LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 

AGRICULTURAL 

COLLEGE 


This    book    may    be    kept    out 

TWO  WEEKS 

only,    and    is   subject    to   a    tine    of   TWO 
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on    the   day    indicated   below, 

IE61 Z  Z  MVP 

OCT  0?1995   ll-.  |3G93S; 


ARMSTRONG'S 

YAT  HEATER  AID  COYER. 


For  the  information  of  the  public,  I  will  say  that  the  past  sea- 
son I  have  made  improvements  in  my  Vat  Heater  ;  that  one  cord 
of  stove  wood  17  inches  long,  by  actual  trial,  produced  all  the 
heat  required  in  manufacturing  24  vais  of  milk,  90,000  lbs.,  into 
cheese,  all  heated  to  98°,  the  while  preserving  absolutely  a  uni- 
formityof temperature  in  milk  vat,  excepting  a  variation  of  not  to 
exceed  i°.  My  Vat  Cover  is  indispensable  so  far  as  producing 
absolute  uniformity  of  coagulation;  also,  to  hold  the  temperature 
at  any  °  desired,  as  long  as  required.  In  four  seconds  of  time, 
cover  may  be  lowered  on  to  vat,  and  lifted  out  of  the  way  in  six. 
Its  use  saves  20  per  cent,  of  fuel. 

I  am  prepared  to  put  up  my  Apparatus  or  to  dispose  of  Terri- 
tory and  Factory  Rrights. 

Correspondence  solicited. 

A.  B.  ARMSTRONG,   Patentee, 

Dorset,  Vt. 


ENDORSEMENTS  OF  THE  ABOVE. 

Rochester,  N.Y.,  Nov.  5th,  1875. 
A.  B.  Armstrong,  Dear  Sir  :— Having  in  October  last,  been  favored  with  the 
use  of  the  Factory  of  the  Dorset  Cheese  Association,  for  experimenting  in  cheese 
making,  in  which  was  one  of  your  Self-Heating  Cheese  Manufacturing  Vats, 
allow  me  to  say  that  in  all  my  observation  and  experience  in  cheese  making,  I 
have  never  met  with  its  equal  for  heating  evenly  and  for  holding  a  uniform  tem- 
prature.  Its  capacity  for  holding  heat  during  the  time  necessary  to  manufacture 
a  vat  of  milk  seems  to  be  absolute.  I  regard  your  Adjustable  Vat  Cover,  and 
your  other  arrangements  for  maintaining  an  absolute  even  heat  while  cheese  is 
being  made,  not  only  as  an  economizer,  but  as  filling  a  long  felt  desideratum  in 
cheese  making  apparatus. 

Respectfully,  L.  B.  Arnold. 


PouuTNEV,  Vt.,  Jan.  ist,  1876. 
A.  B.  Armstrong,  Dear  Sir  :— From  a  general  interest  in  Dairy  Products  and 
Dairy  Apparatus,  induced  me  to  be  present  at  J.  Stephens'  Factory,  Granville, 
N.  Y.,  July  ist,  1875.  Witnessed  the  manufacture  of  two  vats  of  milk  into  cheese, 
one  of  which  was  worked  by  use  of  your  Patent  Cover,  the  other  not,  other 
conditions  being  the  same.  Temperature  of  make  room  60°.  Both  vats  heated 
with  steam.  Curd  in  vat  under  cover,  was  not  affected  by  lower  temperature  of 
make  room.  The  contents  of  covered  vat  was  held  absolutely  at  any  degree  re- 
quired. Four  hours  after  rennet  was  applied,  contents  of  vat  had  increased  2" 
without  fresh  application  of  heat.  During  same  time  contents  of  open  vat  was 
much  affected  by  temperature  of  room.  When  the  cheese  was  15  days  from  press, 
the  Editor  of  the  Poultney  Journal  and  myself,  carefully  weighed  the  product  of 
each  vat.  To  our  surprise,  found  product  from  equal  amounts  of  milk,  (2,774  lbs.) 
That  worked  under  cover,  produced  g  17-100  the  most  cheese.  Experts  present 
from  New  York,  pronounced  the  cheese  from  the  covered  vat  the  finest  goods. 
Truly  yours,  M.  O.  STODDARD. 

Firm  of  Moseley  &  Stoddard. 


^  h:  E 

American  Rural  Home 

IS   THE    CHEAPEST 

FIRST-CLASS  FARM  &  FAMILY  WEEKLY 

Published  in  the  World, 


UrKleT*   Cf^nteTirLial    Offer, 


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A  large,  Eight-Page  Weekly  Journal,  Judiciously  Illustrated, 

Beautifully  Printed,  and  Devoted  to  the  Best  Interests 

of  All  Rural  Homes. 


A.  A.  HOPKINS  &  P.  C.  REYNOLDS, 

EDITORS. 


Conducted  by  practical  men,  The  Rural  Home  is  A  Recognized 
AuthoHty  on  Practical  Subjects,  and  is  widely  quoted  from  by  the 
Press  generally.  Published  in  the  very  center  of  the  Great  Gar- 
den Region  of  America,  it  has  at  ready  command  a  mass  of  Agri- 
cultural and  Horticultural  information  of  peculiar  value ;  while 
its  Literary  Departments  are  characterized  by  originality  and 
good  taste,  and  present  week  by  week  a  table  of  contents  more 
rich  and  varied  than  is  found  in  any  other  journal  of  its  class. 

"S^  Specimens  free. 

Address, 

RURAL  HOME  CO., 

Rochester,  IsT.Y. 


American  Dairying 


A  MANUAL  FOR 


Butter  and  Cheese  Makers. 
L.  B.  ARNOLD,  A.  M., 

Secretary  of  the  Ameiican  Dairymni  s  Association., 

Dairy  Contributor  to  the  New  York  Tribune,  Lecturer  on  Dairy 
Husbandry,  &c. 


ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. : 
RURAL     HOME     TUBLISHING     COMPANY. 

1878. 


(=,37 

krio 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1876, 

BY  L.  B.  ARNOLD, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


James  Lekvox,  Electrotyper. 


REMARKS. 


Urgent  demands  and  frequent  inquiries  for  a  thoroughly  practi- 
cal work  on  American  Dairying,  together  with  continuous  ques- 
tions in  regard  to  almost  everything  pertaining  to  the  dairy,  are  the 
only  apologies  the  author  has  to  offer  for  this  volume.  In  its  prepa- 
ration the  aim  has  been  to  meet  the  wants  indicated  by  the  num- 
erous inquiries  that  have  from  time  to  time  reached  him,  and  to 
so  condense  its  contents  as  to  keep  its  cost  within  the  reach  of 
every  dairyman,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  as  full  and  fair  an 
exposition  as  possible  of  the  subject  of  dairying  as  developed  by 
practical  experience  in  factories  and  dairies  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  This  effort  has  made  it  necessary  to  omit  some 
details  which  might  have  been  interesting,  and  often  to  be  con- 
tent with  enunciating  a  general  principle  or  fact  without  accom- 
panying it  with  the  evidence  on  which  it  was  based. 

The  work  is  mainly  the  result  of  the  investigations,  observations 
and  experiences  of  the  author.  He  has  avoided  borrowing  from 
foreign  sources,  preferring  to  confine  himself- to  that  with  which 
he  was  familiar  and  of  which  he  had  knowledge — to  that  which  is 
adapted  to  dairy  husbandry  in  America — instead  of  drawing  from 
outside  and  often  doubtful  sources,  and  speculating  on  what  is 
conjectured  or  not  positively  known.  The  work  is,  therefore,  not 
a  compilation,  but  essentially  original  and  American. 

The  author  has  also  avoided  adopting  or  recommending  new 
and  doubtful  ideas  and  processes.  If  he  cannot  lead  aright,  he 
does  not  mean  to  lead  astray.  He  is  aware  of  the  deficiencies  and 
imperfections  of  the  work,  but  he  is  not  aware  that  it  contains 
anything  false  or  pernicious.  Hoping  it  may  meet  the  wants  of 
the  intelligent  and  rapidly  increasing  number  of  men  and  women 
engaged  in  the  important  interest  of  dairying  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  the  author  submits  the  result  of  his  labors  to  their 
3>  careful  consideration  and  candid  judgment. 
g  L.  B.  A. 

I 

o 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


AMERICAN  DAIRY  SYSTEM,  Origin  and  Development  of 
Associated  Dairying,  Influence  of  -  -  - 

Dairy  Production,  Extent  of- 

DAIRY  FARMIxN'G, 

Soiling  Dairy  Cows,  Importance  of  - 

Dairying  upon  Exhausted  Soils,  Influence  of    - 

Manure  on  Dairy  Farms,  Importance  of    - 

Liquid  Excretions,  Value  of  -  -  -  - 

Products  on  Dairy  Farms,  Uniformity  of    - 

Dairying,  Limit  of  - 

DAIRY  STOCK,      -_.... 
Dairy  Breeds,  Number  of  - 

Ayrshires,  ---_... 

Channel  Island  Cattle,       _  -  -  .  . 

Ayrshire  Milk,  Quality  of       -  - 

Average  Yield  of  Ayrshires,  -  -  .  . 

Average  Yield  of  Jerseys,       -  .  -  _  . 

Dutch  or  Holstein,  -  -  .  .  . 

Jersey  Cheese,  Analysis  of     - 

Average  Yield  of  Dutch  Cows,     -  -  -  - 

Shorthorns,         ---.-.. 
Butter  Globules  in  Shorthorn  Milk,  Character  of 
Other  Breeds,  -_--_.. 
Thoroughbreds,  Deficient  Numbers  of  - 
Grades  of  Milking  Breeds,  Value  of  -  -  - 

HEREDI  FARY  DESCENT,  Laws  of,  as  Applied  to  Grades, 
How  Qualities  are  Acquired  and  Lost,        ... 
"  Taking  Back,"  When  it  Occurs, 

Law  of  Transmission,  Importance  of  -  -  . 

Breeding  from  Similar  Types,       -  -  -  . 

Milking  Breeds,  Perfection  of  - 

Prepotency,  First  Effects  of  -  - 

Olcf  Creamer,  Remarkable  Yield,      -  _  -  . 

Jersey  Cows,  Remarkable  Yield  of  -  -  - 

Shorthorns  Crossing  on  Native  Stock,  Effect  of     - 
Selecting  Dairy  Stock,       _  .  .  .  . 

Milking  Quality,  Illustration  of  Value, 

Dairy  Cows,  Length  of  Period  of  Milking 

Dairy  of  A.  L.  Fish,     ------ 

Comparative  Reliability  of  Different  Breeds,    - 

DAIRY  CATTLE,  Annual  Demand  for  - 
Where  Selections  Must  Come  From, 
External  Indications  of  Milking  Capacity, - 
Signs  with  No  Significance,  .  -  .  . 

Si.^ns  which  have  Significance,  .  .  -  - 

IMilk  Mirror,  Value  of        -  -  -  -  - 

Skin,  Significance  of    -  -  ... 

Cellular  Tissue,  Significance  of   - 

Breeds  for  Special  Purposes,  .  -  .  -  . 

Small  Breeds,  Localities  Adapted  to       - 
Large  Breeds,  Localities  Adapted  to  -  -  - 

Poor  Milker,  Sample  of  (Illustrated),      - 


PAGE. 

-  13 

-  17 


-  49 
51 

-  51 
53 

-  53 
53 

-  54 
54 

-  55 
55 

-  56 
57 

-  62 
62 

-  63 
C3 

-  C3 
U4 


viii  Table  of  Contents. 


PAGE. 

FOOD  FOR  DAIRY  STOCK, 65 

Circumstances  which  Affect  Quantity  Required,  -  ,         -  -  65 

Considerations  of  Cost,  -  -  -  -  -  -  "65 

Considerations  Affecting  Quality,  -  -  .  .  .  gg 

Influence  upon  Milk  Secretion,  -  -  -  -  .  -     67 

Effect  of  Sudden  Changes  in         -  -  -  -  -  -  68 

Changing  from  Hay  to  Grass,  -  -  -  -  -  -     69 

Salt,  Importance  of  -------  gn 

Soiling,  When  Advisable,        -  -  -  -  -  -  -71 

Fodder  Corn,  Value,         ---....^j 

Fodder  Corn,  When  to  Use,  -  -  -  -  -  -       71 

Fodder  Corn,  Character  of  Composition,  ....  72 

Lucern,  ------.-.-2 

Clover,  Red  ----_..  .-^ 

Soiling,  ----_-...       73 

Fall  Feeding,  ------  ..^j 

Bran,     ------ ....-^ 

Feed  and  Milk,       -------.  76 

Early  and  Late  Cut  Hay,       -----..77 

Food  of  Animals,  --------  78 

Corn  Stalks  and  Straw,  -------      go 

Daily  Food  of  a  Cow,       ----.--82 

Food  and  Housing,     --------83 

Food  at  Time  of  Calving,  ------  84 

Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion,   -  -  -  -  -      86 

Digestive  Apparatus  of  Ruminants,      -----  86 

The  Course  of  Food,  -  -  -  -  -  .  .  -       87 

Feeding  Meal,         --------88 

Food  Experiments,     --.-----89 

Mode  of  Feeding  of  Ruminants,  -  -   ^         .  -  .  go 

Digestion,         -------  .-gj 

Food  for  Milch  Cows,       -------  94 

Water,  ----------       gj 

Provisions  for  Water,         ------  -q6 

THE  DAIRY  BARN, 98 

Barn  of  Peter  Mulks,        -  -  -  -  -  -  -  98 

Provisions  for  Manure,  -------     102 

Stables  and  Milking,         -------  jq^ 

Conveniences  of  Fodder,      -------     106 

THE  OCTAGON  BARN,       -------  108 

The  Octagon  Form,   --------     108 

Barn  of  E.  W.  Stewart,    -------  109 

Adaptation  of  the  Octagon,  -------     u^ 

Concrete  Wall,       -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -114 

Water  Lime  Concrete  for  Foundations,       -----     ug 

Quick  Lime  Concrete,  Proportions         -----  xi6 

Concrete  Wall,  Cost  of  ^  -  -  -  -  -  -     T17 

REARING  CALVES, 119 

Flesh-forming  Material,         -  -  -  -  -  -  -     119 

Substitutes  for  Natural  Food,     ------  121 

MILK, 122 

Albuminoids  in  Milk,        -------  12^5 

Fats  in  Milk,    ---------     128 

]\Iilk  Magnified,     -------. 

Specific  Gravity,  ------- 

Sugar  of  Milk,        -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -i-;i 

Saline  Constituents  of  Milk,  -  -  -  -  -  -     131 

Ash  of  Milk,  Analysis  of  ------  1^2 

]\Iilk  Secretion,  --------     1-^2 


129 


33 


Mammary  Gland,  Development  of 

Mammary  Gland,  How  Made,  ------     ig^ 

Mammary  Gland,  Arterial  Branches  of  -  -  -  -  133 

Lactiferous  Vessels,  Description  of 


134 


Lactiferous  Reservoirs,     -------  135 


Table  of  Contents.  ix 

PAGE. 

MILK,  How  Cows  Hold  Up  Milk, 136 

Central  Tendon  Described,          .-.-..  137 

Divisions  of  Udder  Dissimilar,         ------  137 

Divisions  of  Udder  into  Lobules  and  Follicles,            -            -            -  138 

Gland  Cells,  How  Formed,  -            -            -            -            -            -            -  138 

Gland  Cells,  Changes  in  -------  139 

Gland  Cells  Similar  to  Milk  Globules,       -----  139 

Milk  Globules,  Pellicle  of,  Not  Caseine,           .            .            -            .  139 

Milk  Globules,  Sometimes  Fatless,             .            .            -            -            .  1^0 

Milk  Globules,  with  Broken  Pellicle,     -----  140 

Colustrum,  Formation  of-------  141 

Colustrum,  Decrease  of    -            -            -            -            -            -            -  141 

Colustrum,  Connection  with  Milk  Globules,          -            .            -            -  id,2. 

Colustrum,  Analj'sis  of-            -            -            -            -            -            -  143 

Colustrum,  Affected  by  Feed,          -            -            -            -          .  -            -  144 

Udder  Affected  by  Feed,              ---...  14- 

Milk,  Changes  in,  After  Parturition,           -----  146 

Milk,  Quality  Affected  by  Food,            -----  146 

Tables  Showing  Changes  of  Milk  by  Distance  of  Time  from  Calving,  147 

Milk,  Quality  Affected  by  Imperfect  Nutrition,          -            -            -  14Q 

Milking  Function,  How  to  Prolong  it,         -            -            -            -            -  150 

Milk  Secretion,  Effect  of  on  Blood.        -----  151 

Milk  Secretion,  by  Nutrition,           ------  152 

Milk,  Variation  in  Opacity  of     -            -            -            -            -            -  153 

Milk,  Solid  Caseine  in            ------            -  153 

Milk,  Quality  Affected  by  Frequency  of  Milking,      -            -            -  154 

Milk,  Quality  Affected  by  Time  betv/een  Milkings,                       -             -  154 

Milk,  Difference  between  First  and  Last  Drawn,         -            -            -  154 

Milk,  Loss  of  by  Absorption,            ------  155 

Milk,  Affected  by  Breed,              ------  156 

Milk  of  Ayrshire,         --------  157 

r»Iilk  of  Jersey,       --------  157 

Milk  of  Dutch  Cow,   -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  157 

Milk  of  Shorthorn,             -------  158 

Milking,            ---------  158 

Exciting  Cows,      --------  160 

Treatment  of  Cows  while  Milking,              -             -             -             .             .  161 

Manner  of  Milking,          ---._..  162 

Regularity  and  Cleanliness  of  INIilking,      -----  164 

To  Remedy  Hard  Milking, 166 

Changes  in  Milk,         -.---.-.  167 

decomposition,      -             -             ------  170 

Influence  of  Air  on  Milk,     -             -             -             -             -'-             -  171 

Odors  of  Milk,       ---.--.-  172 

Spontaneous  Coagulation,     -------  173 

Experiences  in  Keeping  Milk,     ------  174 

The  Constituents  of  Milk,    -------  175 

Exposure  of  Milk,              -.--.-.  176 

Microscopic  Examination  of  Milk,  -            -            .        *    -      '       -            -  178 

Milk  from  Unhealthy  Sources,  ------  180 

Effect  of  Treatment,  --------  182 

Odor  of  New  Milk,            -------  183 

Evanescent  Odors,     --------  184 

Gases  from  Curds,             ----..-  185 

Animal  Odor,              ----...-  137 

Animal  Heat,         --------  i38 

Milk  in  Warm  Weather,         ---...             -  iqq 

Volatile  Oil,           __-----.  igi 

Feverishness,  ---------  152 

Condition  of  Utensils,      -             -             -             -             -             -             -  195 

Carrying  Milk,             --.-.-.-  igg 

BUTTER  MAKING, -            -  198 

Vessels  for  Setting  Milk,       --..--.  199 

Cream,        ----.--_.  203 


X  •  Tabic  of  CorJents. 

PAGE. 

BUTTER  MAKING,  Specific  Gravity  of  Cream,       .  -            -            -            -  205 

Raising  Cream,     -----...  206 

Butter  Globules,          -_......  207 

Fats  in  Cream,        ---.....  208 

Difference  in  Gravities  of  Milk,       -            -            -            -            -            -  210 

Effects  of  Temperature,  -------  211 

Skimming,         ---------  215 

Preparing  Cream  for  Churning,  -  -  -  -  -  -217 

When  to  Churn,           ---..-..  218 

Flecks  in  Cream,   -            -            -            -            -            -            .            -  219 

Coloring,          ------...  221 

Churning.    ----.-...  223 

Kinds  of  Churns,         -            -             -            -•-            -            -            -  226 

Blanchard  Churn,  --------  227 

Temperature  of  Cream  for  Churning,         -----  228 

Washing  Butter,     --------  230 

The  Higgins  Process  of  Manipulation,       -----  232 

Working  Butter,    --------  233 

Butter  Workers,           --------  234 

Salt  for  Butter,      -------  236 

Salting  Butter,            --------  237 

Packing  Butter,     --------  238 

Packages,          -----.-..  239 

The  Adams  Package,        -------  243 


Milk  Rooms, 

A  Model  Dairy  House, 


-  247 

250 

A  Dairy  Spring  House,          -------  2=^1 

Prof.  Wilkinson's  Plan  for  Dairy  House,           -            -            -            -  253 

Hardin's  Method,       --------  257 

Plan  of  Ice  House,             -------  26^ 

BUTTER  FACTORIES,  -            -            -            -  .          -            -            -            -  265 

West  Bangor  Factory,      -------  266 

Cooling  Milk,  ---------  270 

Pans  Used,              -           ,-            -             -            -            -            -            -  272 

Skimming  Milk,           --------  273 

Processes  Employed  in  Factory  Butter  Making,          -            -            -  274 

Temperatures,              -                         ------  276 

Atmospheric  Condensation  on  Cream,  -----  277 

Large  Pan  System,     -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  278 

CREAMERIES,             --------  279 

Elm  Tree  Creamery,  --------  282 

Harrison  Creamery,           -            -            -            -            -            -            -  •  283 

Purity  of  Pools,           -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  284 

Fast  and  Slow  Cooling,    -------  285 

Economy  in  Labor,     --------  288 

Economy  in  Cream,           -            -            -  '          -            -            -            -  290 

Winter  Butter  Making,           -            -            -            -            -            -            -  291 

Whey  Butter,         --------  292 

Principles  of  Cheese  Making,           -            -            -            -            -            -  294 

Rennet,  Action  of              -            -            -            -            -            -            -  294 

Effect  of  Heat  in  Cheese  Making,   -            -            -            -                         -  296 

The  Armstrong  Vat,          --.-...-  300 

Acidity  in  Cheese  Making,  -            -            -            -            -            -            -  301 

Setting  of  Cheese,             -            -            .            -            .         ^^            -  303 

Pressing  Cheese,          --------  305 

Curing  Cheese,       --------  305 

CHEESE  FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  MANAGEMENT,      -  307 

Willow  Grove  Factory,     -------  30S 

Factories  in  the  West,             --...--  311 

Delivering  Milk  to  Factories,      -            -            -      '      -            -            -  312 

Factory  Milk  Can,      -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  313 

Carrying  Milk,        ---.-...  314 

Ventilation  of  Cans,  -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  315 

Delivering  Milk,     --------  315 


Table  of  Contents.  xi 

PAGE. 

CHEESE  FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  MANAGEMENT. 

Motive  Powers,            .....---  ^17 

Methods  of  Heating,         -------  319 

Use  of  Vats,    ---------  320 

Curd  Cutters,         --------  321 

Curd  Mill,        -           -     ' 324 

The  Cheddar  Process,       -------  326 

Treatment  of  Curd,   --------  327 

Working  Tainted  Milk,    -------        -328 

Working  Sour  Milk,  --------  330 

Working  Skim-milk  Cheese,         ------  331 

Oleomargarine  Cheese.           -------  334 

The  Ellsworth  Method,  -            -            -             -            -            .            .  334 

Hay  Cheese,     -  -  -  -  -  .-  -  -  -336 

Curing  Early  Cheese,        -------  337 

Pressing  Cheese,          --------  338 

Time  of  Pressing,              ....---  3^0 

Care  of  Cheese  in  the  Curing  Room,           .            .            .            -            -  341 

Boxing  Cheese  for  Market,           .-..--  342 

Farm  Dairy  Cheese  Making,             -            -            -            -            -            -  3-42 

APPENDIX, -            -            -            -  346 

Hot  Iron  Test,             -..-----  346 

Testing  Milk  at  Factories,            ------  346 

Rennet,             ---------  347 

Preparing  Coloring  for  Cheese  and  Butter,       -            -            -            -  350 

To  Prepare  Basket  Annalio,  -  -  -  -  -  -350 

Boards  of  Trade,    --.-----  35o 

Rules  and  Regulations  for  a  Board  of  Trade,         .             -             -             -  351 

List  of  Apparatus,              -...---  352 

Complete  Outfit  for  a  Cheese  Factory  of  400  Cows,          -            -            -  352 

Form  for  Organizing  a  Dairy  Manufacturing  Company  or  Association,  353 

Analysis  of  Cheese,   --------  354 


INDEX  TO  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Ayrshire  Cow,  Georgia,         .......  31 

Jersey  Cow,  Nella,           ........  ^4 

Dutch  or  Holstein  Cow,  Maid  of  Twisk,  -            -     '       -            -            -            -  37 

Shorthorn  Cow,    ---------  ^o 

Milk  Mirror,  ----------  5^ 

Barn  of  Peter  Mulks,       --------  99 

Barn  of  Peter  Mulks,  Plan  of          -            -            -            -            -            -            -  loi 

Bents  of  Keeler's  Barn,  -            -             -            -            -       •      -            -            -  107 

Basement  of  Mr.  Stewart's  Barn,  -            -             -            -            -            -            -  no 

Octagon  Barn,       -            -            -            -            -            --            -            -  m 

Fats  in  Milk,  -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  128 

Udder,_ 134 

Teat  with  Irregular  Interior,           -------  133 

Lobules,      ----------  138 

Ultimate  Follicles,     ---------  138 

Milk  Globule  with  Broken  Pellicle,       ------  140 

Enlarged  Follicle,       -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  141 

Colustrum,             .--.-.-..  J42 

Colustrum,      -----.-.-.  1,3 

Fifth  Milking,       -            -            -            -                          -            -            -            .  144 

Old  Milk, 153 

Plug  for  Enlarging  Teat,             -------  166 

Milk  Cells,  _     ----------  169 

Impurities  in  Milk,           .--.--.-  179 

Milk  Globules,             ----..---  180 

Milk  from  Stagnant  Water,         -------  181 

Milk  from  Distillers'  Slops,              -            -            -            -            -            -            -  182 

Milk  Cooler,          ----                         .-..  200 

Milk  Vat,         --....--.-  202 

Dash  Churn,          --.-....-  225 

Blanchard  Churn,      ---------  227 

Butter  Worker,      ---------  235 

The  Adams  Butter  Package,            -.-..-.  243 

Chesebro's  Butter  Jar,     --------  245 

Plan  of  Spring  House,           _-...---  252 

Sub-Earth  Duct,  ---------  255 

Hardin's  Milk  Cooler,           --------  258 

Plan  of  Ice  House,           --------  264 

Butter  Factory,  West  Bangor,  N.  Y.,         -            -            -            -            -            -  268 

Butter  Factory,  West  Bangor,  N.  Y.,  Ground  Pl.in  of           -             -  269 

Elm  Tree  Creamer^',  Elevation  of-             -             -             -             -             -             -  280 

Elm  Tree  Creamery,  Ground  Plan  of  -             -            -            -            -            -  281 

Harrison  Creamery,  ---------  283 

Heating  Apparatus,         --------  299 

Willow  Grove  Factory,          -            -            -            -            -            -            -            -  308 

Willow  Grove  Factory,  Plan  of              .-..--  ^^09 

Iron-Clad  Can,            --.---..-  313 

Can  Ventilating  Device,              .--...-  315 

Economizer  Engine,               ........  318 

Cheese  Vat,           -.---...-  320 

Curd  Cutters,              -...-....  321 

Syphon,      ----------  323 

Curd  Mill,       --.--....-  324 

Curd  Sink  on  Castors,      -.--,...  325 


ORIGIN  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


OF    THE 


AMERICAN  DAIRY  SYSTEM. 


From  time  immemorial  the  milk  of  domestic  ani- 
mals has  been  used  as  food  for  man,  and  its  value  as 
a  wholesome  and  rich  diet  has  been  recognized  from 
the  earliest  records,  all  the  way  down  to  the  present 
date. 

The  cow  has  been  the  chief  animal  from  which  to 
derive  milk  ;  but  the  sheep  and  goat,  the  ass  and  horse, 
the  buffalo  and  deer,  have  each  also  been  drawn  upon 
to  furnish  for  the  gratification  of  the  human  palate 
and  the  support  ot  human  life,  the  pabulum  nature 
designed  for  their  own  offspring.  The  milk  of  these 
animals  is  still  largely  employed  as  food  by  different 
nations,  but  in  American  dairying,  only  cow's  milk 
is  used,  and  but  very  little  milk  from  any  other  animal 
is  ever  used  by,  or  even  familiarly  known  to,  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  Cow's  milk  is  therefore  only 
treated  of  in  this  work. 

Butter  and  cheese  came  later  into  use,  but  their 
origin,  too,  reaches  so  far  back,  that  its  precise  date 
is  lost  in  the  dimness  and  obscurity  of  the  distant  past. 


/^  American  Dairying, 

Though  for  many  centuries  in  use,  and  always 
esteemed  as  health-inspiring  luxuries,  the  progress 
which  has  been  made  in  preparing  milk  and  its  pro- 
ducts for  preservation  and  consumption,  has  been 
remarkably  slow  until  within  a  very  recent  period. 
The  slow  advance  in  the  quality  and  production  of 
butter  and  cheese,  is  not  without  many  parallels  in 
rural  industries.  The  modes  of  tilling  ihe.  earth,  the 
rearing  of  flocks  and  herds,  and  the  culture  of  fruits 
and  grains,  have  made  equally  slow  advances. 

In  all  the  avocations  of  men  in  which  the  laborers 
work  in  positions  so  isolated  as  to  fail  of  quickly 
catching  any  progressive  steps  their  fellows  may 
make,  advancement  is  always  slow.  To  make  much 
progress  men  must  work  socially,  so  as  to  learn  of 
each  other.  No  one  makes  much  progress  by  work- 
ing alone.  It  was  not,  therefore,  till  associated  dairy- 
ins:  came  into  vogue,  and  the  numerous  associations 
for  mutual  instruction  and  investigation  were  estab- 
lished, that  dairying  in  this  country,  made  any  marked 
advance.  Since  these  agencies  were  adopted,  it  has 
on  this  continent  shot  ahead  with  a  velocity  that  has 
astonished  ourselves  and  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  civilized  world. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  trace,  the  history  of  dairy 
husbandry  through  the  long  and  devious  course  from 
its  origin  down  to  the  present  time.  It  must  suffice 
for  me  to  allude  in  the  briefest  way  to  the  rise  of  the 
system  now  in  general  use  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  known  as  the  American  system  of  dairying, 
and  to  pass  at  once  to  a  study  of  its  practical  work- 
ings and  philosophy. 

The  system  of  associated  dairying  originated  with 
Jesse  Williams  of  Rome,  N.  Y.,  in  1851.     Its  origin  is 


Origin,  &c.^  of  the  American  Dairy  System,      /j 

regarded  by  many  as  accidental,  but  I  do  not  so  con- 
sider it. 

We  had  arrived  at  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  dairy 
husbandry  where  a  closer  study  of  the  art,  especially 
of  cheese-making,  began  to  be  awakened,  and  men 
prominent  for  .their  skill  and  intelligence  began  to 
make  their  influence  felt  in  the  quality  of  cheese. 
Prominent  among  these  early  pioneers  in  the  improve- 
ment of  cheese- making  were  Harvey  Farrington,  who 
introduced  and  explained  the  use  of  acidity,  and  the 
effect  of  ripening  milk  for  improving  cheese;  A.  L. 
Fish,  Harry  Burrell,  Jacob  Ellison,  R.  D.  Brown, 
Nathan  Arnold,  all  of  Herkimer  Co.,  and  many  others 
who  might  be  named.  These  men,  who  in  advance  of 
Mr.  Williams,  became  noted  for  their  skill  in  cheese- 
making,  are  still  living,  and  with  the  harness  yet  on, 
are  still  laboring  in  their  old  age,  to  advance  the  pro- 
gressive movement  they  did  much  in  their  earlier  days 
to  inaugurate. 

In  1844  a  cheese  factory  was  built  in  Goshen,  Conn., 
by  Lewis  M.  Norton,  which  is  still  in  use  by  his  de- 
scendant, Ed.  Norton.  The  milk  supplying  this  fac- 
tory was  coagulated  at  the  farms,  and  the  curd  taken 
to  the  factory  to  be  converted  into  cheese.  It  was  an 
easy  step  from  the  association  of  curds  to  the  associa- 
tion of  milk. 

The  necessity  of  the  plan  introduced  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, was  becoming  so  apparent  and  so  strongly  felt, 
that  it  could  not  much  longer  have  escaped  recognition 
had  not  his  clear  head  and  practical  ability  put  it  in 
successful  operation.  There  is  evidence  of  this  in  the 
fact  that  the  fundamental  idea  of  his  plan  had  also 
occured   to   others   in    different  parts  of  the  country, 


1 6  American  Dairying. 

and  that  a  system,  closely  analagous,  had  been  in 
operation  in  Switzerland  for  more  than  a  century. 

This  view  does  not  detract  anything  from  the  credit 
due  to  Mr.  Williams  as  the  originator  of  the  Ameri- 
can dairy  system.  His  leadership  in  the  matter  is  fully 
recognized  and  acknowledged,  and  it  entitles  him  not 
only  to  the  credit  of  originality  but  to  the  profound 
thanks  of  the  whole  dairy  public  for  his  timely  inau- 
guration of  the  most  important  improvement  ever 
introduced  in  the  dairy  interest.  The  view  I  take  of 
the  part  he  played,  makes  him,  like  Ericson  with  his 
monitor,  and  as  inventors  generally  are,  a  necessary 
link  in  the  chain  of  progressive  events. 

The  circumstance  which  gave  rise  to  associated 
dairying,  was  the  fact  that  the  products  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams' dairy  would  sell  for  a  higher  price  than  those 
of  his  son,  living  near  by  him.  To  secure  for  his  son 
the  same  price  he  received  for  his  own,  he  took  his 
son's  milk  in  with  his  own,  who  divided  with  him  the 
cost  of  manufacturing  and  then  shared  with  him.  pro 
rata,  according  to  the  pounds  of  milk  each  had  fur- 
nished. This  proved  advantageous  to  both.  It  reduced 
the  cost  of  manufacturing  the  milk  of  both,  and  en- 
hanced the  price  of  the  son's  cheese.  From  this  hint 
the  milk  of  one  neighbor  after  another  was  taken  into 
the  partnership,  till  the  dairy  house  of  Mr.  Williams 
became  the  general  manufactory  for  the  milk  of  the 
dairies  around  him.  Thus  the  original  idea  as  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Williams,  embraced  mingling  the  milk 
of  several  herds  in  one  manufactory  so  that  the  best 
skill  of  the  neighborhoo(i  could  be  applied  to  the 
whole.  This  idea  is  now  receiving  a  more  extended 
application.  One  expert  now  often  controls  the  oper- 
ations in  a  number  of  factories  ranging  from  two  to 


Origin^  &c.,  of  the  Ainericajt  Dairy  System.      ly 

• 

twenty  or  more.  In  this  way  the  rare  skill  of  superior 
experts,  is  made  available  to  its  utmost  extent.  This 
extension  of  skill  is  the  all  important  characteristic 
of  the  factory  system  as  distinguished  from  private 
dairies.  An  occasional  expert  may  be  found  in 
family  dairying,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  find  one  in 
every  family.  The  great  bulk  of  products  manufac- 
tured in  dairies  must  be  made  by  mediocre  or  inferior 
skill.  But  it  is  possible  to  find  in  a  whole  neighbor- 
hood one  or  more  superior  hands,  and  in  the  territory 
occupied  by  a  number  of  factories  it  is  always  easy  to 
find  an  expert  whose  skill  can  bring  the  products  of 
all  the  factories  he  can  preside  over,  up  to  the  highest 
point  of  perfection  known  to  the  art. 

This  new  departure  in  American  dairying  has  done 
as  much,  if  not  more,  to  elevate  the  standard  of  Ameri- 
can dairy  products,  than  the  original  idea  of  associ- 
ating dairies.  As  yet,  this  advantage  has  been  chiefly 
applied  to  cheese-making,  but  there  is  an  equal  neces- 
sity for  applying  it  to  butter-making,  and  even  a 
greater  necessity,  since  the  butter  interest  is,  at  least, 
three  times  as  large  as  the  cheese  interest. 

EXTENT  OF  PRODUCTION. 

In  consequence  of  the  improved  modes  of  manu- 
facture recently  introduced,  the  business  of  dairying 
has  rapidly  expanded.  It  is  believed,  however,  not 
to  have  reached  the  enormous  magnitude  some  writers, 
who  have  taken  it  tor  granted  the  national  census  of 
1870  was  greatly  at  fault,  have  ascribed  to  it. 

There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  inaccuracies  of 
greater  or  less  magnitude  always  creep  into  the  statis- 
tics of  the  census  marshals,  but  they  are  as  likely  to 
vary  in  one  direction  as  another,  and  in  the  aggregate 


iS  American  Dairying. 

they  give  a  good  approximation  to  the  truth.  In  regard 
to  the  statistics  of  the  dairy  it  is  certainly  a  very  easy 
matter 'for  marshals  to  get,  very  exactly,  the  number 
of  cows  in  the  country.  As  the  enumeration  of  cows 
is  as  easy  as  that  of  the  population,  we  may  assume 
that  item  to  be  correct.  The  total  for  1870  is  put 
down  at  8,935,232.  The  amount  of  butter  at  5 14,092,683 
lbs.  This  at  tlie  rate  of  100  lbs.  to  the  cow^  which, 
for  the  whole  U.  S.,  is  a  fair  estimate, 

Would  use  the  milk  of 5,140,926  cows. 

162,929, 382  lbs.  of  cheese  at  250  lbs.  to  the  cow 

would  use  the  milk  of 651,709      *' 

2555500.599  g'^llons  of  milk  sold  of 809,286      " 

Making  a  total  of 6,601,921      " 

Subtracting  this  from  the  whole  number  of  cows, 
we  have  2,333,411  cows  to  supply  the  home  consumo- 
tion  of  the  farmers  who  produce  milk,  including  their 
families  and  the  help  employed  by  them,  which  make 
up  near  one-third  of  the  total  population  of  the  coun- 
try. This  is  a  moderate  allowance  of  cows  for  sup- 
plying so  large  a  number  of  people  with  milk.  I  am 
led  to  the  belief,  therefore,  that  the  totals  as  put  down 
in  the  last  national  census  are  substantially  correct. 

In  1870  our  exports  were  tV  of  our  total  product  of 
cheese,  and  our  home  consumption  1^.  If  we  suppose 
our  home  consumption  has  increased  at  the  same  rate 
as  our  export  trade,  it  would  make  a  present  home 
consumption  of  cheese  of  112,725,605  pounds,  and  a 
total  product  of  204,446,555  pounds.  Owing  to  an 
increased  area  of  dairying  in  the  West,  the  consump- 
tion of  cheese  in  the  West  and  South,  where  most  of 
the  Western  cheese  finds  a  market,  has  been  largely 
increased.  Allowing  twenty  millions  for  this  extra 
increase  of   home   consumption,   it   will  give  us,  in 


Origin,  &c. ,  0/  tJie  A  merican  Dairy  System.       ig 

round  numbers,  a  total  annual  product  of  cheese  at 
present  of  225,000,000  pounds,  which  cannot  be  far 
from  the  truth. 

«  Increasing  the  butter  product  at  the  same  rate  as 
that  of  cheese,  we  have  710  millions  as  the  present 
annual  product  of  butter.  Unless  the  increase  of 
cows  since  1870  has  been  vastly  greater  than  in  any 
equal  period  in  the  past,  the  present  number  cannot 
vary  much  fron  ten  millions,  the  annual  products  of 
which  would  correspond  closely  to  the  above  figures. 
I  am  aware  that  these  estimates  will  look  small  to 
those  who  have  had  their  imaginations  stretched  by 
the  estimates  of  those  who  have  based  their  calcula- 
tions on  a  supposed  per  capita  consumption  of  butter 
or  cheese;  and  perhaps  they  ought  to  be  somew^hat 
enlarged,  from  the  fact  that  in  New  York  and  Ohio 
especially,  much  of  the  milk  which  formerly  made 
only  butter,  now  makes  cheese  also  from  the  same 
milk,  thus  increasing  the  aggregate  product  from  a 
given  number  of  cows  ;  but  it  cannot  swell  the  amount 
to  anything  like  the  estimates  which  have  been  cur- 
rent for  the  past  few  years. 

The  last  national  census  does  not  show  the  per 
capita  consumption  of  cheese  in  the  United  States  to 
be  as  great  as  in  some  of  the  former  ones,  and  there 
are  good  reasons  why  such  a  fact  might  be  expected. 
In  the  first  place,  the  factory  cheese  made  for  export  is 
not  suited  to  the  taste  of  our  people  and  it  could  not 
be  expected  that  it  would  be  consumed  as  freely  as  that 
which  satisfied  their  taste  better.  In  the  second  place, 
consumption  has  been  stifled  by  crowding  our  markets 
with  skim  cheese,  to  a  large  extent  insipid  and  indi- 
gestible, and  such  factory  cheese  as  would  not  bear 
shipping.     For  these  two  reasons  it  is  believed  by 


20  Aincrican  Dairying. 

many,  and  I  think  with  reason,  that  Xh^ per  capita  con- 
sumption of  cheese  in  the  United  States,  instead  of 
increasing  as  it  ought,  has  been  diminishing  for  several 
years. 


DAIRY  FARMING. 


The  introduction  of  the  system  of  associated  dairy- 
ing, and  the  increased  attention  and  study  it  has 
attracted  to  the  dairy  interest,  are  steadily  making  the 
business  ot  dairy  husbandry  a  leading  branch  of  rural 
industry.  The  more  thoroughly  the  matter  is  investi- 
gated the  more  clearly  does  it  appear  that  the  dairy 
affords  many  advantages  over  grain-raising  and  the 
other  ordinary  branches  of  farming,  especially  in  par- 
ticular localities;  and  as  a  natural  consequence,  this 
branch  of  farming  is  steadily  gaining  adherents  in 
different  parts  of  the  country. 

In  favorable  seasons,  the  annual  returns  from  a 
grain  farm  and  a  dairy  farm,  do  not  foot  up  with  a 
very  wide  difference;  but  that  difference,  whatever 
it  may  be,  ia  generally  in  favor  of  the  dairy.  But  it  is 
not  the  extraordinary  margin  of  profit  afforded  by 
dairy  farming  that  is  making  so  many  converts  to  the 
cause.  The  inducements  which  cause  so  many  to  give 
a  preference  to  this  industry  are  various ;  and  first 
among  them  is  the  greater  certainty  it  affords  of  uni- 
form results.  All  that  portion  of  North  America 
included  in  the  north  temperate  zone,  is  subject  to 
great    climatic    variations    and    sudden    changes    of 


Dairy  Fanning.  2i 

weather,  which  more  or  less  affect  and  interfere 
with  the  farmer's  crops.  Drought,  early  or  late 
frosts,  excessive  wet  and  cold,  and  storms  of  wind 
and  hail,  are  ever-and-anon,  the  occasion  of  unfilled 
bins  and  empty  pockets  in  one  part  of  the  country  or 
another.  On  the  prairies  of  the  Western  States,  it  is 
estimated  that  the  corn  crop,  (probably  the  most  relia- 
ble crop  in  that  section),  is  seriously  injured  on  an 
average  once  in  three  years.  And  all  over  the  North- 
ern and  Eastern  States,  crops  are  injuriously  affected 
by  drought  or  other  cause,  to  serious  extent  once  in 
about  four  years.  Grass  is  more  tenacious  of  life, 
and  grows  at  a  lower  temperature  than  almost  any 
other  farm  product.  Nothing  is  so  secure  against 
varying  climate  and  sudden  changes  of  weather  as 
grass  ;  and  as  the  operations  of  the  dairy  farmer  are 
based  on  this  crop,  he  can  count  on  results  much  more 
nearly  uniform  than  the  grain-grower. 

The  increasing  practice  of  soiling  dairy  cows  during 
a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  summer,  is  not  only  en- 
hancing the  proceeds  of  the  dairyman,  but  is  render- 
ing him  secure  against  the  fluctuations  of  seasons, 
particularly  against  the  almost  never-failing  recur- 
rence of  midsummer  droughts.  He  is  yearly  appre- 
ciating more  fully  the  fact  that  by  growing  deep 
rooted  plants — such  as  corn,  lucern  and  clover — he 
can  cheaply  provide  an  unfailing  and  abundant  sup- 
ply of  excellent  milk-producing  food,  which  will  carry 
his  herd  safely  through  long  and  severe  droughts,  that 
would  dwarf  his  pastures  and  ruin  his  small  grains. 
He  can  also,  in  the  same  way,  eke  out  his  winter's 
store.  The  practice  of  soiling  taken  in  connection 
with  the  certainty  of  grass,  spring  and  fall,  gives  him 
a  guaranty  of  uniformity  in  his  annual  products,  that 


22  AiJierican  Dairying. 

hardly  inures  to  any  other  farmer.  Though  his  cattle 
are  liable  to  accident  and  disease,  the  greater  security 
which  he  thus  enjoys  against  varyin.g  seasons  and 
sudden  freaks  of  weather,  is  equivalent  to  a  consider- 
ble  premium  in  favor  of  his  mode  of  farming. 

A  second  consideration  in  favor  of  dairy  husbandry, 
is  the  greater  uniformity  in  the  price  of  butter  and 
cheese,  as  compared  with  other  farm  products.  The 
markets  are  often  glutted  with  the  different  varieties 
of  grain,  meat,  wool,  &c.,  the  price  running  down 
below  living  rates,  to  be  followed  perhaps  by  inflation. 
In  dairy  products  variations  are  not  so  great.  Periods 
of  activity  and  depression  occur,  but  there  are  no  such 
wide  fluctuations  as  in  the  grain  market.  Great  ex- 
tremes cannot  be  reached  in  the  dairy.  The  cows  of 
a  country  cannot  vary  suddenly.  It  takes  four  or  five 
years  to  produce  a  cow — and  the  market  cannot  be 
suddenly  glutted.  In  fact,  the  cows  in  any  country 
generally  maintain  nearly  a  uniform  ratio  with  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  varying  very  little,  if  at  all. 
On  this  continent  it  has  remained  nearly  the  same  from 
the  earliest  settlement  of  the  country  to  the  present 
time,  varying  little  from  twenty-three  cows -to  one  hun- 
dred inhabitants.  A  similar  uniformity  has  prevailed 
in  England  and  other  countries  of  Europe.  The  rela- 
tion, therefore,  between  the  supply  and  demand  of  dairy 
products,  cannot  vary  suddenly  or  very  much.  The 
relative  proportions  of  butter  and  cheese  may  vary 
by  reason  of  changes  from  the  manufacture  of  one  to 
the  manufacture  of  the  other ;  but  an  excess  of  cheese 
diminishes  the  product  of  butter,  for  the  number  of 
cows,  and  the  aggregate  of  milk  remaining  the  same, 
if  more  is  devoted  to  cheese-making,  less  must  be  to 
butter-making,    and   vice   ve?'sa.     Prices    run    up  and 


Dairy  Farming.  2^ 

down  as  the  supply  of  either  varies,  but  dairymen 
oscillate  so  easily  from  the  manufacture  of  one  to  the 
other,  that  no  great  excesses  or  deficiencies  can  well 
occur.  These  circumstances  have  a  controlling  influ- 
ence, and  will  in  the  future,  as  they  have  done  in  the 
past,  keep  prices  comparatively  even.  The  greatest 
variations  are  occasioned  by  good  or  bad  seasons, 
when  the  aggregate  of  dairy  products  is  swelled  or 
diminished. 

The  difference  in  the  severity  of  labor  in  grain- 
raising  and  dairy  farming  has  also,  probably,  some 
influence  in  inclining  farmers  to  the  dairy  ;  but  perhaps 
the  strongest  inducement  is  the  little  exhaustion  it 
occasions  to  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 

How  the  usual  modes  of  farming  exhaust  the  fer- 
tility ot  the  soil  is  well  known.  The  stores  of  plant- 
food  which  untold  ages  had  accumulated  in  the  virgin 
soil  are  sapped  away  in  a  few  short  years  of  subjuga- 
tion to  the  plough.  The  depleting  process  seems 
destined  to  over-run  the  whole  continent.  It  sweeps 
steadily  on,  keeping  pace  with  the  removal  of  the 
primeval  forests,  and  leaves  everywhere  impoverished 
soils  and  diminished  crops  behind  it.  The  exhaustion 
goes  on  till  the  yield  is  reduced  below  profitable  cul- 
ture, when  some  new  mode  of  operating  must  be 
adopted.  There  must  be  a  resort  to  stock-raising, 
dairying,  fallowing,  rest,  green  crops,  plastering  or 
artificial  manuring,  to  increase  the  yield  to  profitable 
results,  for  such  results  may  always  be  accomplished. 
However  low  the  fertility  may  be  reduced  there  is 
always  still  left  in  the  soil  an  immense  wealth  of  plant 
food,  though  unavailable  for  present  use,  because 
locked  up  in  insoluble  compounds  which  require  time 
and  the  action  of  the  elements  to  unloose.    Here  then 


2^  American  Daii-ying. 

is  a  vast  extent  of  land  thus  reduced,  for  the  restora- 
tion of  which  dairy  farming  is  most  appropriate  and 
inviting.  It  stops  at  once  exhaustion,  but  does  not 
stop  income.  It  brings  good  returns  from  the  first. 
Forage  crops  grow  well  where  grain  crops  pay  poorly. 
Seeding  down  to  grass  gives  time  for  air  and  water, 
heat  and  frost,  to  gradually  unlock  the  tenacious  com- 
pounds which  hold  the  mineral  elements  of  plants,  as 
with  a  firm  grasp,  and  lets  them  loose  for  the  rootlets 
to  feed  upon,  or  to  accumulate  in  the  soil  for  future 
use.  It  gives  time  for  the  absorbent  properties  of  the 
soil  to  take  in  elements  of  fertility  from  the  atmos- 
phere, from  the  snows  and  rains,  and  from  the  dews  of 
heaven.  In  this  way  a  farm  that  has  been  run  down 
may  be  made  to  grow  rich,  and  a  rich  one  richer.  This 
problem  is  often  worked  out  practically  by  farmers 
with  such  satisfactory  results  as  to  strongly  induce 
others  to  "  go  and  do  likewise." 

The  manure-heap  is  the  all-essential  thing  with  the 
dairyman.  His  mode  of  farming  allows  him  to  con- 
sume the  products  of  his  farm  on  his  own  premises, 
and  to  return  nearly  all  that  is  taken  from  the  soil, 
back  whence  it  came.  There  is  a  steady  exhaustion 
going  on  upon  a  dairy  farm  as  well  as  upon  a  grain 
farm,  but  it  is  small  in  comparison.  It  consists  chiefly 
of  phosphates  that  are  carried  away  in  the  milk,  and 
which  may  be  easily  restored  with  bone  earth.  The 
waste  is  so  slow  with  ordinary  care  of  the  manure, 
that  it  is  not  usually  felt  for  many  years.  By  carefully 
saving  all  the  liquid  manure  from  the  stables  and  the 
pens,  the  store  which  is  already  in  the  earth  would 
hold  out  still  longer.  This  a  dairyman  should  always 
do.  The  liquid  excretions  of  his  animals  are  worth 
fully  as  much  to  the  dairyman  as  the  solid,  because  they 


Dairy  Farming.  2j 

contain  just  what  dairy  farming  is  all  the  time  in- 
clined to  waste.  To  lose  the  liquid  manure  is  to  lose 
one-half  the  benefit  to  the  farm  from  keeping  a  dairy. 
This  fact  is  beginning  to  be  pretty  well  appreciated. 
While  dairymen  are  swelling  the  manure  heap  by 
every  available  means,  they  are  at  the  same  time 
adopting  conveniences  to  save  and  utilize  the  valu- 
able liquids  which  in  former  days  were  allowed  to 
waste.  And  this  increased  economy  in  manures  makes 
the  contrast  between  a  farm  and  a  farmer  growing 
rich  and  one  that  is  growing  poor,  so  great  as  to 
attract  the  attention  of  observant  men,  who  become 
persuaded,  and  keep  more  stock  and  plough  less. 

An  approximate  certainty  of  uniform  products  and 
prices,  a  diminution  of  the  severe  labor  of  grain  grow- 
ing, a  cessation  of  its  exhaustion  of  the  soil,  and  the 
retention  upon  the  farm  of  nearly  all  its  fertilizing 
material  to  aid  in  restoring  an  impoverished  soil  to  a 
rich  and  productive  one,  are  considerations  which 
must  in  the  future,  as  they  do  now,  have  great  weight 
in  leading  intelligent  farmers  to  exchange  the  plow 
for  the  milk  pail.  They  are  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
inference  that  dairy  farming  is  destined  to  follow  in 
the  wake  of  the  grain  grower,  and,  sweeping  over  the 
wide  expanse  of  his  westward  march,  to  restore  the 
lost  fertility  and  bring  back  to  productiveness  the  vast 
extent  of  land  which  his  destructive  habits  have  made 
poor.  They  will  make  dairy  farming  preferable  to 
grain  growing  when  the  profits  on  dairy  products  shall 
fall  to  those  of  grain  growing,  and  even  below. 

LIMIT  TO  DAIRYING. 

The  Jirst  limitation  to  dairying  is  climate.  If  it  is 
either  too  hot  or  to  cold  to  keep  cows  comfortable 


26  American  Dairying, 

and  healthy,  their  milk  will  "be  faulty  and  its  products 
poor.  The  climate  in  the  northern  part  of  the  United 
States  and  southern  part  of  Canada,  is  generally  favor- 
able. By  protection  against  the  heat  of  summer  and 
the  severity  of  winter,  dairying  may  be  successfully 
carried  on  some  distance,  either  south  or  north  of  its 
natural  limit. 

The  second  limitation  is  the  supply  of  water.  If  an 
abundance  of  good,  pure,  fresh  water,  convenient  of 
access,  cannot  be  had,  thoughts  of  dairying  had  bet- 
ter not  be  entertained.  Pure  water  is  a  "  sine  qua  7ion  " 
in  dairying.  It  must  be  running  water,  or  at  \&2i'^X.  fresh. 
Stagnant  or  even  standing  water  should  not  be  used  : 
it  is  unsafe.  Local  limitations  on  this  account  often 
occur. 

Going  southward,  the  want  of  a  supply  of  running 
water  through  the  summer  season,  will  often  be  found 
to  bar  the  extension  of  successful  dairying  before  the 
limit  by  climate  is  reached.  Were  it  not  for  the  lack 
of  running  water  three  months  in  the  year,  the  Blue 
Grass  regions  of  Kentucky  would  be  as  accessible  to 
the  dairy  as  many  of  the  counties  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  where  little  else  than  butter  and  cheese  are 
now  produced.  Immense  tracts  of  lands  both  west 
and  south  are  debarred  from  successful  dairying,  be- 
cause, for  one  quarter  of  the  year  or  more,  they  are 
without  water,  or  without  such  as  is  suitable  for  the 
dairy.  It  will  seldom  be  found  a  pa34ng  business  to 
introduce  dairying  in  any  place  where  fiesh  running 
water  is  habitually  wanting  three  or  four  months  in 
the  year. 

The  third  limitation  is  the  supply  of  food.  The 
quality  must  be  good,  whatever  it  is.  It  is  impossible 
to  make  good  milk  from  poor  material ;  and  if  such 


Dairy  Farming,  2y 

food  cannot  be  supplied  cheaply  and  abundantly  it 
will  restrict  the  operations  of  the  dairy.  The  increas- 
ing value  of  land  in  the  older  settled  portions  of  the 
continent,  tends  to  increase  the  cost  of  cattle  food,  and 
to  confine  the  limits  of  dairying  on  one  side,  wliile 
the  increased  occupation  of  new  and  cheap  lands  on 
the  other,  tends  to  the  extension  of  the  dairy  in  that 
direction.  The  immense  extent  of  cheap  land  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  will  defy  competition  for 
an  indefinite  period,  especially  in  the  production  of 
cheese. 

Peculiarities  of  soil  have  been  supposed  to  set  the 
most  rigid  limits  to  dairying,  especially  to  the  cheese 
interest.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  set  definite  bounds  to 
the  land  from  which  good  butter  and  cheese  can  only 
be  made.  Dairymen  have  been  compelled  to  change 
their  opinions  in  regard  to  the  extent  of  dairying- 
lands,  and  with  more  light  they  may  have  occasion  for 
further  modification.  It  is  but  a  few  years  since  the 
best  informed  dairymen  believed  that  the  limits  of  suc- 
cessful cheese-making  were  very  narrow,  and  that  the 
people  of  a  few  favored  localities  anticipated  they 
would  enjoy  for  ever  the  privilege  of  supplying  the 
world  with  cheese.  It  is  but  a  few  years  ago  that 
New  York  supplied  Canada  and  the  Western  States 
with  cheese,  because  it  was  then  supposed  that  good 
cheese  could  not  be  made  in  either  place.  Now  Can- 
ada is  not  only  supplying  herself,  but  is  sending  to 
England  some  fifty  millions  a  year  of  better  cheese 
than  New  York  then  sent  to  Canada,  and  the  Western 
States  are  beginning  to  imitate  the  example  of  theii^ 
Canadian  neighbors.  For  the  last  three  seasons  Wis- 
consin cheese  has  been  well  received  in  the  British  mar- 
kets, and  during  the  past  year,  butter  has  been  steadily 


28  American  Dairying. 

sold  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  Elgin,  III.,  by  the 
thousand  pounds,  at  higher  figures  than  were  made  at 
the  same  time  for  equal  quantities,  in  any  of  the  At- 
lantic cities.  The  writer  had  the  satisfaction  of  in- 
specting in  the  hot  weather  in  June,  1875,  butter  made 
at  Marengo,  Illinois,  by  Israel  Bois  &  Son,  and  at 
Elgin,  by  J.  H.  Wanzer,  which  it  would  not  be  easy 
to  excel  in  any  locality,  and  this  with  only  the  facili- 
ties common  and  available  to  almost  the  entire  vast 
region  of  the  Northwest. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Pennsylvania  Dairymen's  Associa- 
tion last  winter,  J.  H.  Reall  of  Philadelphia,  an  exten- 
sive dealer  in  dairy  produce,  declared  the  Marengo 
butter  the  best  he  had  met  with  from  any  source. 

Butter  making  it  would  seem  can  now  be  carried 
on  successslully  anywhere  that  cows  can  be  supplied 
with  wholesome  food  and  water,  and  where  they  can 
be  maintained  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  health  and 
comfort,  and  cheese  appears  to  have  no  narrower 
limits.  The  condition  and  circumstances  of  the  soil 
have,  however,  some  influence  upon  the  quality  of 
milk  and  its  products.  In  milk  from  low  moist 
ground,  for  instance,  the  butyraceous  and  cheesy 
matter  will  be  softer  than  in  milk  from  land  which  is 
high  or  rolling.  If  the  high  land  is  sandy  or  gravelly, 
the  contrast  will  be  still  greater.  A  difference  has 
also  been  noticed  in  the  products  of  milk  from  loamy 
soils,  and  those  which  are  sandy  or  gravelly,  both 
being  alike  rolling  and  the  herbage  the  same. 

It  is  evident  that  milk  diff'erent  in  quality  should  be 
treated  differently.  And  if  the  treatment  and  manu- 
facture should  in  each  case  be  varied  to  suit  the  varia- 
tions in  the  milk,  the  probability  is  that  the  results  in 
each  case  would  prove  alike  satisfactory. 


Dairy  Stock.  2g 

My  observations  and  experience  incline  to  that 
belief. 

The  present  state  of  the  art  of  manufacturing  cheese 
applies  to  milk  from  land  of  medium  moisture,  and 
does  not  succeed  well  with  milk  from  soils  very  wet  or 
very  dry.  In  a  more  advanced  stage,  a  wider  range 
may  be  taken.  But  at  present  dairymen  are  advised 
to  avoid  extremes.  Loamy  soils  with  a  rolling  surface 
that  will  retain  moisture  without  being  wet;  soils  on 
which  grass  will  remain  fresh  and  green  nearly  the 
entire  season,  and  on  which  a  turf  may  be  retained  for 
a  long  series  of  years,  produce  butter  and  cheese  of 
the  best  quality,  and  feed  at  the  least  cost,  and  are 
always  to  be  preferred. 


DAIRY  STOCK. 


Any  breed  of  cattle  worthy  of  being  called  a  milk- 
ing breed,  ought  to  have  the  milking  habit  so  well 
established  in  its  blood,  that  over  half  of  the  cows  be- 
longing to  it  prove  to  be  deep  milkers.  To  fall  short 
of  this,  would  be  to  demonstrate  that  some  other  than 
the  milking  quality  is  the  leading  characteristic  of  the 
breed. 

There  are  but  three  breeds  of  cattle  in  this  country, 
which  have  attained  to  any  considerable  notoriety, 
that  will  stand  this  test.  These  are  the  Ayrshire,  the 
Channel  Island,  and  the  Dutch  or  Holstein.     But  it  i§ 


JO  American  Dairying. 

not  my  purpose  to  discuss  at  length  the  peculiarities 
of  the  different  breeds,  but  to  present  only  their  more 
prominent  characteristics  so  far  as  they  will  aid  the 
dairyman  in  the  selection  of  his  herd.  Besides,  as 
this  work  is  devoted  to  the  practical  operations  of  the 
dairy,  the  limited  number  of  pages  to  which  I  am  cir- 
cumscribed, would  not  permit  an  extended  considera- 
tion of  breeds,  were  I  disposed  to  go  more  into  details. 

AYRSHIRES. 

This  is  a  breed  of  cattle  which  has  come  to  us  from 
Scotland,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  county  of  Ayr. 
There  is  some  disagreement  as  to  the  ultimate  origin 
of  the  breed;  but  this,  to  the  practical  man,  is  a  mat- 
ter of  little  consequence.  The  main  thing  which  in- 
terests the  dairyman  is  its  possession  of  deep  milking 
capacity,  and  the  certainty  with  which  this  can  be  trans- 
mitted. These  cattle  have  been  long  and  successfully 
bred — by  judicious  selection  and  crossing,  by  liberal 
and  appropriate  food,  and  by  care  and  constant  milk- 
ing— to  meet  this  demand.  Developing  an  aptitude 
for  turning  food  into  milk,  naturally  abates  the  apti- 
tude for  promoting  an  assimilation  of  flesh  and  fat 
and  development  of  frame.  The  highest  milking 
capacity  is  therefore  rather  unfavorable  for  size  and 
strength  of  constitution,  as  in  the  milking  season 
there  is  a  tendency  to  convert  everything  into  milk, 
instead  of  using  it  to  build  up  and  sustain  bodily 
structure. 

The  Ayrshire  cow  is  not  large,  but  of  fair  size.  It 
is  a  good  cow  that  will  weigh  i,ooo  pounds.  Nor  is 
she  remarkable  for  symmetrical  proportions.  She 
has  indeed  a  clean,  well-formed  head^rather  broad 
between  the  horns  and  tapering  toward  the  muzzle — 


Dairy  Stock, 


3^ 


Ayrshire  Cow,  Imported  "Georgie,"  No.  185  N.  A.  A.  R.,  owned  by  Sturtevant 
Pros.,  Waush^kum  Farm,  S.  Farmingham,  Mas?. 


S^  American  Dairying. 

with  a  very  intelligent  and  expressive  eye.     Her  neck 
has  a  deep  attachment  to  the  shoulders,  but  is  thin, 
long  and  symmetrical,  and  has  a  decidedly  feminine 
appearance.     Her  fore-quarters  are  light,  smooth  and 
thin,   and  her  hind-quarters  deep  and   spreading — a 
form  adapted  to  milk  rather  than  "  beef  and  beauty." 
One  of  the   most  striking  characteristics  of  the  Ayr- 
shire cow  is  the  size  and  shape  of  her  udder  and  teats. 
Her  udder  is  unlike  that  of  any  other  cow,  being  flat- 
tened horizontally,  but  remarkably  large  and  spread- 
ing sidewise ;  and  while  it  extends  far  back,  it  has  a 
very  distinctive  front  development.      Her  small  cylin- 
drical teats  are  set  far  apart  both  ways,  and  are  remark- 
able for  their  uniform  size.     She  is  supplied  with  an 
extraordinary  number  of  small  reservoirs,  distributed 
through    the  udder,  which  enable  it  to  distend   and 
hold  a  very  large  mess,  but  it  collapses  to  very  narrow 
limits    when    empty — a   peculiarity    which   generally 
attaches  to  deep  milkers  with  a  nervous  and  sensitive 
temperament.     The  milk   mirrors  are  large  and  well 
formed.     The  one  on  the  hinder  part  of  the  udder  is 
broad  and  well  up  ;    the  forward  one  spreads  over  the 
two  front  quarters  of  the  udder,  and  extends  well  out 
upon    the   abdomen ;  the  milk  veins  are  also  large. 
With  a  capacious  digestive  apparatus,  a  brilliant  eye, 
and  a  lively  expression  in  her  red  and  white  coat  of 
hair — denoting    health    and   vigorous    digestion — she 
has  all  the  insignia  of  a  royal  milker,  so  far  as  quantity 
is  concerned.     An  average  herd  of  Ayrshires,  fairl} 
fed  and  cared  for,  may  be  expected  to  give  six  times 
their  weight  of  milk  in  a  year,  while  individual  cows 
will  do  very  much  more.     It  is  doubtful  whether  there 
is  any  other  breed  of  cows  which  will  make  as  good 
an  average  yield  in  proportion  to  their  weight. 


Dairy  Stock.  33 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Ayrshires  were  de- 
veloped on  a  poor  soil,  yielding  scanty  pasturage — 
which  makes  them  all  the  more  valuable  as  easy 
keepers — and  that  they  have  so  long  and  carefully 
been  bred  for  dairy  purposes,  that  thay  have  failed  to 
develop  in  almost  every  other  direction. 

The  quality  of  Ayrshire  milk  well  adapts  it  to 
cheese  making.  One  strain  of  the  breed  is  said  to  be 
well  adapted  to  butter  making;  but  I  am  not  familiar 
with  that  strain.  The  milk  which  I  have  tested  was 
well  stocked  with  nitrogenous  matter,  and  the  fat 
globules  were  abundant,  but  of  unequal  size — making 
the  cream  rise  unequally,  and  calling  for  skill  in 
churning,  to  get  all  the  butter.  The  yield  is  a  pound 
of  butter  from  20  to  25  pounds  of  milk.  A  micro- 
scopic view  of  Ayrshire  milk  may  be  seen  among  the 
illustrations  in  the  chapter  on  "  Milk." 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  single  animal  can  be 
a  full  and  perfect  representative  of  all  the  points  of  a 
breed ;  but  the  portrait  presented  at  the  opening  of 
this  chapter  gives  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  average  Ayr- 
shire cow.  She  is  ten  years  old,  and  weighs  i.oSo 
pounds.  Her  annual  yield  has  been  from  6,000  to 
8,000  pounds,  her  milk  product  tor  1874 — during 
which  she  was  dry  22  days — being  8,271  pounds. 

The  objections  urged  by  some,  against  this  breed 
are  the  moderate  size,  the  shortness  of  the  teats,  a 
tendency  to  nervousness,  and  a  suspected  weakness 
of  constitution.  But  they  tind  numerous  and  ardent 
friends  among  dairymen  who  use  them. 

CHANNEL  ISLAND  CATTLE. 

There  is  probably  no  breed  of  cattle  which  can 
boast  of  a  longer  devotion  to  milking  habits  than  the 


34- 


A  merkan  Dairying, 


JERSEY    COW    ''NELLA," 
The  property  of  W.  L.  &  W.  Rutherford,  Waddington,  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Channel  Island  cattle,  the  chief  of  which  is  the  Jersey, 
known  also  in  this  country  as  the  Alderney.  Ever 
since  their  introduction  upon  the  isles  in  the  British 
channel,  which  is  too  long  ago  to  be  definitely  traced, 
they  have  been  unremittingly  consecrated  to  the  milk 
pail.  These  cattle,  like  the  Ayrshires,  show  by  their 
size  and  unpolished  form  how  one  leading  character- 
istic, when  it  abstracts  to  itself  an  unequal  share  c^f 
pabulum,  is  developed  at  the  expense  of  all  others. 
Turning  their  food  largely  into  rich  milk,  their  bodies 
remain  small  and  uncouth.  Their  size  is  diminutive, 
the  average  weight  of  a  full  grown  cow  being  only 
about  800  or  900  pounds.  The  annexed  cut  shows  a 
fair  sample  of  the  breed. 

The   quantity  of  milk   they  yield  is   not   large,  but 
fair.     Good  Jersey  cows,   if  well  fed  and  cared  fur, 


Dairy  Stock.  J5 

may  be  expected  to  give  an  average  annual  yield  equal 
to  five  times  the  weight  of  their  bodies.  Their  fort 
lies  in  the  richness  of  their  milk  and  the  abundance 
and  high  color  of  their  butter.  The  milk  of  different 
individuals  varies  in  richness,  as  well  as  it  does  in  all 
breeds,  but  it  takes  less  of  Jersey  milk  than  of  the  milk 
of  other  breeds  for  a  given  quantity  of  butter — about 
1 8  of  milk  to  one  of  butter.  Eight  to  twelve  quarts  a 
day,  in  the  best  of  the  season,  is  a  common  yield. 

The  original  of  our  illustration,  eleven  months  after 
coming  in,  and  after  carying  her  calf  four  months, 
gave  in  August,  on  grass  alone,  22  pounds  of  milk 
per  day,  which  made  22  ounces  of  butter.  In  the  flush 
of  feed  her  mess  was  37  pounds.  This  is  probably  a 
little  above  the  average  yield  in  quantity  and  richness 
of  Jersey  milk,  but  such  results  are  quite  common. 
Individuals  run  far  beyond  it.  The  milk  of  the  cow 
"  Pansy,"  a  herd-book  Jersey,  the  property  of  J.  H. 
Sutliff,  Ct.,  in  one  year  made  574^6  pounds  of  butter, 
a  yield  of  which  any  of  the  larger  breeds  might  well 
be  proud. 

The  business  of  the  Jersey  cow  is  emphatically  that 
of  butter  making — and  she  can  be  kept  for  nothing 
else  so  profitably.  Her  milk,  however,  is  rich  in 
cheesy  matter,  and,  contrary  to  the  general  belief,  if 
I  may  judge  from  samples  of  cheese  from  Jersey  milk 
which  have  recently  been  sent  me  from  Maine,  is  capa- 
ble of  making  as  fine  cheese  as  it  does  butter.  Though 
it  requires  less  milk  to  make  a  pound  of  cheese  than 
it  does  of  the  milk  of  natives — about  eight  of  milk 
for  one  of  cheese — the  quantity  may  be  thought  insuf- 
ficient to  yield  a  profitable  income.  It  is  a  new 
feature,  worthy  of  note  in  the  uses  of  this  breed  of 
cattle,  that  their  milk   can,  without  waste  of  buttery 


^6  American  Dairying. 

matter,  be  converted  successfully  into  a  strictly  fancy 
cheese,  and  as  rich  in  fat  as  Stilton.  Analyses  of  cheese 
from  pure  Jersey  milk,  recently  made  in  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, have  showii  over  40  per  cent,  of  fat. 

Though  the  Jersey  is  not  a  handsome  animal,  it  is 
not  without  something  of  beauty.  Its  ornamentation 
is  in  its  head,  which  is  always  suggestive  of  the  wild 
look  of  the  deer  apd  elk  ;  and  this  with  its  finely- 
wrought  features  and  its  intelligent  placid  and  kindly 
eye,  is  the  best  and  strongest  mark  of  thorough  breed- 
ing the  animal  bears.  Ics  constitution  is  fairly  strong, 
and  its  digestion  good,  so  that  it  is  hardy  and  econo- 
mises well  the  food  it  consumes.  Its  domesticity  and 
quiet  disposition,  its  gentleness  and  fondness  of  being 
petted,  are  much  in  favor  of  its  usefulness  as  a  milker. 
The  large  fat  globules  in  their  milk  with  an  almost 
uniform  size,  so  that  the  cream  rises  quickly  and  per- 
fectly, and  churns  easily,  also  enhance  their  value.  They 
are  essential  aids  to  profitable  dairying.  Against  the 
many  positive  qualities  of  this  breed  of  cows  lie  the 
objections  of  size  and  moderate  measure  of  milk. 

DUTCH   OR   HOLSTEIN. 

Fortunately  the  origin  of  a  breed  does  not  affect 
its  characteristics,  nor  does  its  name  detract  from,  or 
add  to,  its  capacity  to  fill  the  milk  pail.  Though  the 
name  and  origin  of  the  cattle  imported  into  this  coun- 
try from  North  Holland  are  disputed,  there  can  be  no 
dispute  that  they  possess  qualities  which  make  them 
valuable  to  the  dairymen.  They  possess  large  frames 
and  vigorous  constitutions,  derived  from  the  generous 
feed  of  a  generous  soil  for  successive  generations,  and 
tlieir  flow  of  milk  is  liberal,  amounting  annually,  ac- 
cording to  different  authorities,  from  3^^  to  4  times 


D.iiry  Stock. 


•'  M  \11)    OF    TWISK," 
Property  of  Unadilla  Dutch  Stock  Breeders'  Association. 

their  own  weight.  Judging  from  the  average  of 
records  I  have  met  Avith,  I  should  place  the  annual 
yield  higher.  The  average  cow  of  this  breed  will 
weigh  near  1,500  pounds.  The  milk  is  rich  in  caseine 
and  is  fairly  so  in  butter.  The  butter  globules  in  their 
milk  are  very  abundant  and  uniform  in  size,  but  small. 
It  is  therefore  rather  better  adapted  to  cheese  making 
and  marketing  than  to  butter  making.  Butter  from  the 
milk  of  Dutch  cattle  has,  however,  some  special  quali- 
ties. It  stands  up  well  against  heat,  and  is  said  to  be 
especially  good  for  long  keeping.  The  uniform  small- 
ness  of  the  butter  globules  in  their  milk,  though  it 
makes  the  cream  rise  slowl}",  is  a  positive  advantage 
in  milk  for  marketing  or  cheese  making.  (See  chapter 
on  milk  for  microscopic  views  of  Dutch  or  Holstein 
milk.) 

In  Holland  the  color  of  the  breed  under  considera- 
tion, is  a  clear  black  and  white ;  but  in  this  country 


J 8  American  Dairying. 

the  black  sometimes  shades  down  to  something  like  a 
reddish  hue,  while  the  white  remains  pure.  These 
cattle  are  excellent  for  beef  as  well  as  milk,  and  the 
males  are  said  to  make  good  working  oxen. 

This  breed  of  cattle  has  not,  as  yet,  come  into  very- 
extensive  use;  but  the  few  that  have  been  imported 
and  bred  have  proved  very  satisfactory,  especially  for 
purposes  of  cheese  making.  For  this,  their  milk 
seems  specially  adapted.  I  have  had  occasion  to 
make  several  analyses  of  the  milk  of  this  breed,  and 
in  every  instance  have  found  it  remarkably  rich  in 
cascine,  fairly  so  in  butter,  but  poor  in  sugar— an  ele- 
ment not  much  needed  in  making  either  butter  or 
cheese.  The  strength  of  their  food  seems  to  be  well 
appropriated.  They  are  liberal  feeders,  and  give,  in 
some  instances,  remarkable  yields  of  milk.  The  illus- 
tration we  give  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  appearance 
of  the  breed,  both  in  form  and  color,  but  it  does  not 
indicate  the  size  as  compared  with  the  illustrations  of 
other  breeds,  it  being  drawn  on  a  much  smaller  scale 
than  that  of  the  Ayrshire,  on  a  preceding  page.  The 
subject  of  the  illustration  is  more  than  the  average 
milker.  For  seven  months  and  thirteen  days,  begin- 
ning April  17th,  1874,  she  gave  a  total  of  9,674 
pounds — a  daily  average  of  41.52  pounds.  In  1875,  a 
period  of  seven  months,  beginning  April  loth  and 
ending  November  loth,  she  gave  9,833  pounds — a 
daily  average  of  45.2  pounds — making  an  annual  pro- 
duct of  over  six  times  the  weight  of  her  body. 

In   everything    except    color,    the    Holland   cattle 

closely  resemble  the    Shorthorns,  and  so  much  so  as 

to  suggest  relationship.     They  appear  as  much  alike 

as  could  be  expected  trom  the  different  ways  in  which 

'they  have  been  bred  and  fed.     One  has  been  fed  on 


Dairy  Stock.  jg 

rich  food  to  develop  beef,  and  the  breeding  has  also 
aimed  in  that  direction.  In  the  other,  selections 
have  been  made  with  special  reference  to  milk  ;  and, 
as  in  the  other  dairy  breeds,  the  animals  have  been 
chiefly  supported  by  grazing — a  circumstance  that 
strongly  favors  their  adaptation  to  our  mode  of  dairy- 
ing. 

As  an  offset  to  the  positive  milking  qualities  of  this 
breed  of  cattle,  now  aspiring  to  the  favor  of  dairy- 
men, no  strong  or  specific  objections  seem  to  be  urged. 
There  is,  however,  in  the  minds  of  some,  a  lurking 
query  whether  cattle  coming  from  a  climate  mild  and 
even  as  that  of  North  Holland,  and  living  upon  the 
rich  grass  of  that  very  fertile  land,  can  successfully 
endure  the  poorer  fare  and  the  wide  extremes  of  our 
more  variable  climate.  But  they  have  so  far  endured 
our  climate  well,  and  have  given  good  satisfaction  in 
all  respects  to  those  who  have  attempted  to  introduce 
them.  Their  milking  quality  seems  to  be  less  variable 
than  that  of  most  other  breeds — being  almost  in- 
variably large  milkers. 

SHORT  HORNS. 

I  have  preferred  not  to  class  the  Shorthorns  as  a 
milking  breed,  simply  because  a  majority  of  them  are 
not  good  milkers,  and  not  because  there  are  not  nu- 
merous good  milkers  in  the  breed.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  there  has  ever  been  any  better  milking  stock 
than  the  original  ,  Shorthorns,  and  they  have  still  a 
most  persistent  tendency  to  transmit  that  quality  to 
their  descendants.  If  any  proof  of  this  were  neces- 
sary, it  can  be  found  in  the  fact  that  while  nine-tenths 
of  the  Shorthorns  breeders,  work  with  an  eye  single 
to  "•  beef  and  beauty,''   and  to  breed  out  milk,  strong 


4-0 


A  mcricaii  Dairying. 


\ 


^5 


'f''5C^^**fcrSj^j«Si 


'iA^\ 


fb 


^^^^ 


Short  Horn  Cow  Sonsie  nth,  the  property  of  Gen.  N.  M.  Curtis,  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y 


Dairy  Stock.  ^i 

milking  qualities  are  constantly  cropping  out  in  spite 
of  all  their  efforts  to  repress  it.  Where  a  deep  mili<- 
ing  tendency  has  not  been  counteracted,  or  where  it 
has  been  the  least  restrained,  as  in  the  Princess  family, 
it  has  remained  in  nearly  its  original  strength,  and  is 
transmitted  with  a  most  remarkable  certainty.  In 
some  strains  of  Shorthorns  blood,  modern  breeding 
has  proved  so  skillful  as  to  so  completely  wipe  out 
the  milking  tendency,  that  cows  in  vigorous  health 
and  flesh  sometimes  fail  to  give  milk  enough  to  sup- 
port a  calf,  and  now  and  then  one  gives  no  milk  at  all. 
Beef  is  the  all  essential  thino  in  the  modern  short 
horn.  While  we  all  admire  the  elegant  forms,  the 
well  rounded  proportions  and  the  delicious  flesh  of 
the  ponderous  beasts,  nevertheless,  from  a  dairyman's 
stand  point,  it  seems  unfortunate  that  qualities  so  in- 
valuable to  his  calling,  should  be  turned  out  of  their 
natural  course  and  devoted  to  other  purposes.  When 
a  milking  strain  is  met  with,  the  cows  take  rank  with 
the  best  milkers. 

The  butter  globules  in  the  Shorthorns  milk  are  gen- 
erally not  very  high  colored,  but  of  good  size,  causing 
the  cream  to  rise  readily.  The  per  cent,  of  cream, 
too,  is  liberal,  and  the  quality  of  both  good.  The 
milk  is  about  equally  well  adapted  to  butter,  cheese, 
and  marketing.     Average  weight  1,500  pounds. 

The  main  objection  urged  against  the  breed  is,  a 
tendency  to  convert  food  into  fat  and  flesh,  rather 
than  into  milk.  The  illustration  on  page  40  is  one  of 
the  Princess  blood,  and  is  a  fair  average  of  the  milking 
strains  of  this  breed.  She  is  six  years  old  and  dropped 
her  last  calf  August  14th,  1875,  and  gave  an  average 
daily  mess  till  October  4th,  of  a  little  over  40  pounds. 
In  one  week,  beginning  Oct.   4th,  her  daily  average 


/J.2  A  in  erica  71  Dairyin^ 


p- 


was  ^d>  2-7  pounds  with  16  per  cent,  cream,  as  shown 
by  the  cream  gauge.  Her"  feed,  like  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding cows,  was  grass  only.  For  those  who  desire 
to  consider  the  element  of  beef  in  connection  with 
milk,  the  short  horns  give  the  best  satisfaction. 

OTHER  BREEDS. 

There  are  several  other  breeds  which  have  promi- 
nent milking  qualities,  quite  as  good,  perhaps,  as 
those  already  mentioned,  but  they  are  in  such  small 
supply  in  this  country,  as  not  to  be  relied  on  for  gen- 
eral dairy  purposes,  such  as  the  Swiss,  Holderness, 
Kerry,  &c.  And  there  are  other  breeds,  in  larger  sup- 
ply, which  have  many  good  milkers  among  them,  as 
the  Devons  and  the  Herefords.  Splendid  milkers 
occur  among  these  breeds,  and  the  Devons,  in  par- 
ticular, give  milk  of  a  choice  quality,  but  for  the 
general  purposes  of  the  dairy,  they  are  defective  in 
quantity. 

At  the  present  time,  the  best  of  the  thorough  breds 
cannot  be  much  relied  on  for  the  general  use  of  the 
dairy.  In  the  first  place,  even  those  which  are  in  the 
greatest  supply,  are  held  at  prices  too  high  for  the 
dairyman  to  purchase  simply  for  milking. 

He  may  buy  a  fe\Y  good  animals  and  then  raise 
others  from  these ;  but  generally,  this  process  is  too 
slow  for  him.  He  wants  cows  at  once,  and  they  must 
be  had  at  once  from  the  best  sources  available.  In 
such  emergencies,  he  must  fall  back  on  the  natives, 
so  called.  In  these  the  chances  are  against  him.  Tiie 
natives  are  a  mixture  of  all  breeds,  with  all  sorts  of 
milking  tendencies,  but  the  inferior  are  in  excess. 
They  have  this  advantage,  however,  over  all  other 
supplies  :  they  form   the  great  staple  of  neat  stock  ; 


Grades  of  the  Milking  Breeds.  ^j 

and  if  the  dairyman  can  distinguish  a  good  cow,  when 
he  sees  one,  he  can  generally  make  selections  at  prices 
which  he  can  aflford. 


GRADES  OF  THE  MILKING  BREEDS. 


While  the  so  called  milking  breeds  constitute  an 
item  of  great  interest  to  dairymen  generally,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  thoroughbred  cows  form  a  very 
insignificant  part  of  the  dairy  cows  of  the  country — 
probably  not  much  more  than  one  per  cent.,  and  it 
must  be  a  very  long  time  hence,  if  ever,  before  any  of 
the  breeds  named  as  prominent  for  milk  producing, 
will  constitute  any  considerable  part  of  the  aggregate 
of  dairy  stock  in  the  United  States. 

Though  we  have  little  to  hope  for,  especially  in  the 
immediate  future,  from  thorough  bred  milkers,  for 
direct  and  general  use  in  dairies,  we  have  much  to 
hope  from  them  by  way  of  their  grades.  They  have 
done  much  already  in  this  direction,  and  from  the 
readiness  with  which  grades  can  be  multiplied,  they 
can  expand  their  usefulness  almost  indefinitely.  From 
their  more  recent  introduction  into  the  country,  the 
grades  of  the  Dutch  or  Holstein  cattle  have  not  yet 
figured  largely ;  but  the  Ayrshires,  the  Jersey  and  the 
Shorthorns  grades  are  quite  largely  used  for  recruiting 
dairies,  in  preference  to  any  other  stock.  They  make 
the  best  of  dairy  cows,  equaling  and  often  surpassing 


^^  American  Dairying. 

their  ancestors  on  either  side.  The  splendid  milkers 
developed  among  them  and  the  general  good  quality 
they  possess,  the  extent  to  which  they  are  now  used, 
and  the  facility  and  little  cost  with  which  they  can  be 
increased,  make  the  grades  of  milking  breeds  of  more 
immediate  importance  to  the  milk  producer  than  the 
breeds  themselves. 

The  estimation  here  awarded  to  this  kind  of  dairy 
stock,  and  especially  the  intimation  that  we  may 
i;iirly  expect  samples  which  will  outdo  their  parents, 
may,  to  those  who  have  not  been  familiar  with  them 
by  use  or  observation,  and  who  in  a  certain  sense,  ex- 
pect "like  to  produce  like,"  seem  to  border  on  the 
"extravagant.  But  the  good  qualities  are  there,  and 
the  extraordinary  samples  do  occur,  and  for  the  sake 
of  illustrating  the  peculiar  nature  of  grades,  and  for 
impressing  more  fully  the  advantages  of  recruiting 
dairies  with  them,  I  will  make  a  brief  statement  of 
my  view  of  the  law  of  descent  which  makes  the  results 
known  to  occur,  appear  reasonable  and  legitimate. 

It  is  not  intended  here  to  elaborate  the  laws  of 
hereditary  descent  to  any  considerable  extent,  though 
it  would  be  very  interesting  and  appropriate  to  show 
how  to  improve  milking  stock,  and  how  to  build  up 
new  and  superior  breeds,  but  space  will  not  allow. 
Grades  have  a  law  unto  themselves,  and  nothing  more 
than  my  view  of  that  law  can  be  attempted. 

It  is  said  that  "  like  produces  like,"  but  dairymen 
find  no  certain  reliance  on  the  milking  capacity  of 
heifers  raised  from  extraordinary  milkers  they  happen 
to  get  into  their  herds.  There  is  a  a  higher  probability 
of  good  milkers  from  such  cows  than  from  poor  ones, 
but  they  do  not  always  follow  even  when  the  sire  is 
from  a  good  cow.     The  reason  for  this  uncertainty, 


Grades  of  the  Milking  Breeds.  ^5 

very  likely,  is  because  the  milking  capacity  of  the 
dam  is  only  accidental,  and  not  a  fixed  characteristic. 

The  oft  quoted  adage,  "  like  produces  like,"  has  a 
significance  beyond  visible  qualities.  It  takes  in  also, 
constitutional  qualities.  Two  animals  unlike  in  this 
respect,  though  alike  in  all  others,  will  not  stamp  the 
same  peculiarities  upon  their  progeny.  The  first  ap- 
pearance of  a  characteristic  does  not  fix  it  permanently 
in  the  constitution  of  the  individual,  or,  in  other 
words,  in  the  blood,  and  not  being  fixed,  it  is  easily 
lost  when  circumstances  do  not  contribute  to  its  con- 
tinuance. 

By  continuing  it  through  successive  generations  it 
becomes  permanent,  and  the  longer  and  more  fre- 
quently it  is  transmitted  the  better  it  is  established 
in  the  blood,  and  the  more  difficult  is  it  to  be  bred  out 
or  dropped  out  by  a  loss  of  vigor  or  prepotency  in 
the  parents.  Qualities  recently  acquired  are  easily 
dropped  by  a  want  of  vigor  in  the  breeding  animals. 
When  the  health  and  vital  force  are  full  to  overflow- 
ing, personal  peculiarities  are  most  perfectly  trans- 
mitted, let  them  be  what  they  may.  The  individual 
then  transmits  himself  as  he  is.  The  perfection  with 
which  the  progenitor  transmits  himself  under  such 
conditions  is  so  complete,  that  even  a  scar  on  the 
parent  has  been  known  to  reappear  in  the  offspring. 
But  let  the  vital  force  wane,  and  the  characteristics 
which  have  been  last  acquired,  and  which  are  of 
course  the  least  fixed,  will  fail  to  appear  in  the 
descendant.  And  as  the  vigor  of  the  progenitor 
fails,  the  characteristics  disappear  one  after  another 
in  the  reverse  order  in  which  they  have  been  assumed, 
and  according  to  the  extent  of  the  depression  of  vital 
power,  and  the  progeny    "takes  back,"    or  in   other 


4^6  America?!  Dairying, 

words,  inherits  only  those  elements  which  have  been 
the  longest  or  most  firmly  fixed  in  the  blood  of  the 
parent.  Hence,  when  a  combination  of  favorable  cir- 
cumstances develop  an  extraordinary  milking  animal 
from  common  stock,  the  extraordinary  capacity  for 
milking  often  fails  to  reappear  in  her  descendants, 
because,  while  she  is  breeding,  her  vitality  is  apt  to  be 
too  much  reduced  by  her  large  flow  of  milk.  Because 
of  the  debilitating  influence  of  a  large  milk  production, 
the  transmission  of  extraordinary  milking  qualities 
is  more  difficult  than  many,  or,  indeed,  most  others. 
On  this  account  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  depre- 
ciation in  milking  stock,  and  the  breeder  of  dairy  stock 
should  therefore  study  to  guard  against  it. 

The  law  of  transmission  here  touched  upon  is  of 
immense  importance  to  the  breeder  of  blooded  stock, 
but  it  is  not  to  impress  it  upon  his  mind  that  it  is  here 
introduced.  It  is  rather  to  impress  it  upon  the  prac- 
tical dairyman,  whose  business  is  the  production  of 
milk  rather  than  raising  stock,  that  he  may  make  it 
available  for  filling  up  the  steady  waste  of  his  herd, 
with  profitable  milking  animals,  and  to  make  the 
application  more  explicit,  another  feature  in  hereditary 
descent  may  be  alluded  to. 

In  his  address  before  the  last  convention  of  the 
American  Dairymen's  Association,  Prof  L.  Weihercll 
said : 

"  Breeding  from  a  bull  and  cow  of  similar  type — 
the  progeny  will  be  like,  and  of  a  higher  degree : 
qualities  are  thus  perpetuated  and  intensified  in  the 
off'spring.  Take  a  Shorthorn  bull  and  represent  his 
hereditary  power  by  loo  :  put  this  bull  to  a  cow  of 
totally  diff"erent  hereditary  power,  say  equal  to  60  : 
the  off'spring  would  be  reduced  to  100  minus  60,  equal 


Grades  of  the  Milking  Breeds.  ^.J 

to  40  :  suppose  the  offspring  to  be  a  bull,  both  sire  and 
offspring  may  appear  equally  perfect  in  form  and  gen- 
eral character — the  hereditary  transmission  being  as 
much  greater  in  the  former  sire,  as  the  proportion  of 
100  to  40;  hence,  the  former  would  be,  and  is,  much 
more  valuable  for  breeding  purposes  than  the  latter. 
By  breeding  animals  ot  similar  type,  the  offspring  will 
be  likely  to  possess  the  same  characteristics,  with  a 
greater  power  of  hereditary  transmission  of  this  char- 
acter or  these  characteristics.  On  the  other  hand, 
animals  of  opposite  characters,  mutually  weaken  each 
other's  influence,  and  the  offspring  possesses  the  power 
of  a  hereditary  transmission  in  a  reduced  degree." 

This  is  a  clear  and  compact  statement  of  the  law  by 
which  the  tendency  to  strengthen  hereditary  trans- 
mission is  increased  by  coupling  animals  of  similar 
type,  and  the  reduction  of  hereditary  transmission  by 
coupling  animals  of  opposite  characteristics. 

The  milking  breeds  noticed,  though  the  best  in  the 
country,  are  not  perfect,  nor,  on  the  whole,  growing 
better.  There  is  no  breed  so  perfect  that  inferior 
animals  do  not,  every  now  and  then,  crop  out.  The 
very  high  price  Avhich  herd  book  animals  can  now  be 
sold  for,  causes  everything  to  be  raised.  No  one  will 
make  veal  of  a  calf  for  which  he  can  obtain  ten  or 
twenty  times  as  much  as  it  is  worth  for  that  purpose. 
Hence  good,  bad  and  indifferent,  are  raised  and  sold, 
and  somebody  gets  the  poor  animals  to  breed  from. 
Besides  this,  breeders  are  all  the  time  breeding  away 
from  milk,  some  for  color,  some  for  shape,  some  foi 
growth,  and  others  for  fat  and  flesh,  &c.  But  not- 
withstanding the  drawback  from  raising  everything 
and  from  turning  away  from  milk  to  other  points,  the 
fixedness  of  the    milk  producing   tendency  from  its 


^8  American  Dairying. 

long  succession  of  transmissions  in  the  past  may  be 
turned  to  good  advantage  by  the  milk  producer. 

Peculiar  characteristics  as  readily  descend  through 
male  as  female  ancestors,  hence  milking  tendencies 
descend  as  readily  through  bulls  as  cows,  and  they 
are  made  use  of  to  transmit  the  best  milking  capacity 
of  the  breeds  to  which  they  respectively  belong. 

When  by  crossing  wnth  animals  of  opposite  char- 
acters, prepotency  is  weakened,  that  weakness  is  felt 
first,  and  most  effectually,  in  the  characteristics  which 
were  the  latest  acquired  by  the  ancestors  of  the  indi- 
viduals making  the  cross.  If,  for  instance,  a  peculiar 
color  was  bred  into  a  variety  of  cattle  later  than  a 
peculiar  form,  in  crossing  with  opposite  characters, 
color  would  be  most  likely  to  disappear,  or  be  affected 
sooner  than  form.  So  where  a  tendency  to  take  on 
flesh  and  fat  has  been  acquired  on  top  of  deep  milking 
qualities,  the  beef  making  tendency  gives  place  to  the 
earlier  and  more  firmly  fixed  habit  of  milking.  The 
effect  of  this  law  of  descent  is  ever  cropping  out  in 
crossing  thorough  bred  bulls  on  the  native  cows.  The 
milking  breeds  in  which  deep  milking  has  been  fixed 
by  transmission  through  a  long  series  of  generations, 
and  which  more  recently  have  been  bred  toward  other 
points,  the  later  characteristics  are  lost  in  crossing, 
and  the  descendant  takes  back  to  the  older  established 
milking  blood,  and  hence  it  is  common  to  get  better 
milkers  from  grades  than  was  shown  in  the  immediate 
ancestors  on  either  side.  This  law  is  well  illustrated 
in  "  Old  Creamer,"  a  grade  Ayrshire,  belonging  to 
S.  D.  Hungerford  of  Adams,  N.  Y.,  which  gave  302 
pounds  of  milk  in  three  days,  and  in  the  two  Jersey 
grades  of  Joseph  Percival,  of  Waterville,  Maine,  whose 
milk    made    915    pounds    of    butter    in    a   year,  after 


Grades  of  the  Milking  Breeds.  ^g 

enough  of  it  was  sold  to  make  it  50  pounds  more.' 
But  nowhere  does  this  law  find  better  confirmation 
than  in  the  use  of  Shorthorn  bulls  with  native  stock 
The  leading  characteristics  of  the  modern  Snorthorn 
are  later  acquisitions  than  a  tendency  to  milk.  All 
history  concurs  in  making  the  production  of  milk  the 
characteristic  of  the  original  Shorthorn  cow.  The 
extraordinary  tendency  to  flesh  and  fat,  and  the  fine 
form  of  the  Short  horns  of  to-day,  are  the  work  of  mod- 
ern breeders  and  have  taken  the  place  of  a  tendency 
to  milk. 

,  In  crossmg  with  natives  the  modern  Shorthorns,  in 
which  the  capacity  for  milk  has  run  low,  the  later 
acquisitions  give  way  and  drop  out  and  the  progeny 
takes  back,  and  the  orignal  form  of  the  early  short 
horn  and  their  tendency  to  milk  revives.  It  is  on 
account  of  the  inherent  tendency  to  milk,  that  short 
horn  bulls,  even  where  that  tendency  has  been  well 
bred  out,  are  so  notorious  for  producing  good  milkers 
when  crossed  with  the  native  cow.  As  crossing  with 
opposite  characteristics  impairs  prepotency,  grade 
bulls  are  more  liable  to  fail  in  transmitting  their 
individual  characteristics  than  thorough  breds.  When 
all  circumstances  are  favorable  they  may  transmit 
themselves,  but  as  their  prepotency  is  more  easily 
affected  by  unfavorable  conditions,  the  result  of  their 
breeding  is  not  very  reliable,  and  hence  it  is  safer  in 
raising  giades  for  milkers  to  resort  to  thorough  bred 
males  for  sires.  When  this  is  done,  there  is  no  way 
in  which  the  milk  producer  can  so  readily,  cheaply 
and  safely  supply  himself  with  superior  milkers,  as  by 
raising  grades  from  his  best  cows  out  of  bulls  of  the 
breed  or  breeds  best  adapted  to  his  use. 

At  the  present    time,  thorough    breds    and  grades 


so  American  Dairying, 

Vvhich  are  accounted  as  such,  are  supposed  to  consti- 
tute about  ten  per  cent,  of  the  cows  which  make  up 
the  dairies  in  the  United  States.  The  rest  are  from 
the  common  stock  of  the  country.  Though  the  aver- 
age of  this  stock  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  stock  just 
treated  of,  it  contains  some  splendid  specimens  of 
good  milkers.  The  average  annual  yield  of  milk 
from  this  90  per  cent,  of  natives,  will  fall  below  rather 
than  above,  three  times  their  live  w^eight. 

Until  thoughts  of  progress  and  improvement  are 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  more  dairymen  than  they 
are  now,  filling  up  the  annual  depreciation  of  herds- 
will  continue  to  be  made  from  the  common  cattle,  as 
they  are  now  and  have  always  been.  This  calls  for 
skill  in  selecting,  for  which  there  is  a  wide  range,  and 
makes  the  study  of  the  external  indications  of  milking 
quality  a  necessity. 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock,  5/ 


SELECTING  DAIRY  STOCK. 


There  is  no  one  thing  on  which  the  success  of  a 
dairyman  depends  more  than  on  the  selection  of  the 
cows  which  are  to  compose  his  herd.  There  is  no  profit 
in  keeping  poor  ones.  The  steadily  increasing  price 
of  land  brings  the  cost  of  keeping  so  high  that  poor 
milkers  often  fail  to  pay  for  the  provender  they  con- 
sume. The  money  made  by  dairying  is  all  made  from 
good  cows,  and  skill  in  selecting  is  therefore  a  matter 
of  great  consequence. 

To  illustrate  the  difference  in  profit  between  a  good 
cow  and  a  poor  one,  let  us  suppose  a  case.  Take  a 
cow  of  any  given  weight,  say  1,000  pounds,  and  sup- 
pose it  costs  in  hay,  grain  and  pasture  $30  a  year  to 
support  her  body,  and  five  dollar's  worth  of  extra  feed 
to  produce  milk  for  making  300  pounds  of  cheese,  the 
net  value  of  which  is  ten  cents  a  pound. 

Take  another  cow  of  the  same  weight  and  it  will 
cost  the  same  to  support  her  a  year.  But  suppose  she 
can  convert  $10  worth  of  extra  feed  into  milk  that 
will  make  600  pounds  of  cheese. 

Though  the  first  cow  has  manufactured  each  dollar's 
worth  of  extra  food  into  six  dollars  worth  of  cheese, 
the  profits  on  the  small  quantity  she  has  manufactured 
will  not  pay  for  the  keeping.  While  the  second  cow, 
by  converting  a  larger  quantity  of  food  into  cheese, 
has  paid  her  keeping  and  left  a  handsome  margin. 


^2  American  Dairying. 

A  comparison  of  results  will  stand  thus : 

Cow  No.  I. — Dr.  to  support  one  year Jfi30 

''    to  extra  feed  for  producing  milk 5 

»  Cr.  by  300  pounds  of  cheese  at  $10 30 


Loss, 


5 


Cow  No.  2. — Dr.  to  support  one  year $30 

"    to  extra  feed  for  milk 10 


Cr.  by  600  pounds  of  cheese  at  $10 60 

Profit $20 

These  supposed  figures  are  close  approximations  to 
actual  facts  which  exist  in  thousands  of  dairies.  In 
fact  there  are  few  large  herds  that  do  not  contain  cows 
differing  about  as  much.  A  dairyman  in  Herkimer 
having  a  dairy  of  forty  cows,  which  as  a  herd  was 
accounted  a  good  one,  selected  five  of  his  best  cows 
and  five  of  his  poorest,  and  measured  their  milk 
through  the  season.  The  five  best  averaged  554  gal- 
lons each,  and  the  five  poorest  243  each.  The  milk  of 
the  whole  herd  averaged  11^  cents  per  gallon,  making 
the  income  of  each  of  the  better  cows  $63.71,  and  of 
the  poorer  ones  $27.95 — ^  sum  less  than  the  cost  of 
keeping,  which  he  estimated  at  $30.50.  This  case  was 
not  deemed  an  exceptional  one.  Its  parallel  could 
have  been  found  in  almost  any  dairy  of  equal  size. 
To  avoid  similar  defects,  a  wise  selection  of  stock  is 
evidently  essential  to  prosperity,  and  every  one  should 
study  how  to  do  it.  It  is  believed  that  the  best  and 
surest  way  to  secure  good  cows  is  to  raise  them  from 
good  milking  stock.  But  a  large  proportion  of  dairy- 
men, for  one  reason  or  another,  prefer  to  fill  up 
vacancies,  which  are  ever  occurring,  by  purchasing. 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock.  5J 

It  requires  frequent  additions  to  a  dairy  to  keep  its 
numbers  good.  The  milking  period  of  dairy  cows 
averages  only  ten  years,  from  which  it  follows  that 
ten  per  cent,  must  be  renewed  annually,  and  when 
allowance  is  also  made  for  losses  by  accident  and  dis- 
ease, and  the  rejection  of  such  animals  as  prove  in- 
ferior, it  will  require  eleven  per  cent,  or  more  lo 
sustain  the  yearly  diminution.  In  the  aggregate  this 
makes  a  large  traffic,  and  it  demands  a  ready  appre- 
ciation of  the  merits  of  the  animals  with  which  it  is 
proposed  to  supply  the  deficiency. 

How  much  such  a  knowledge  may  avail,  an  instance 
within  our  personal  knowledge  will  show.  A.  L.  Fish, 
of  Winfield,  N.  Y.,  by  a  skillful  selection  of  superior 
milkers,  averaged  for  a  series  of  years  over  800  pounds 
of  cheese  to  a  cow  in  a  season.  His  cows  averaged, 
when  feed  was  the  best,  32  quarts  of  milk  each  per 
day,  and  in  one  season  he  made  over  900  pounds  to 
the  cow. 

The  merits  of  different  breeds  have  been  sufficiently 
discussed,  and  it  will  suffice  here  to  say  that  there  is 
no  single  breed  which  will  answer  all  the  requirements 
of  every  dairyman,  nor  one  in  which  the  milking 
qualities  are  so  w^ell  established  that  one  can,  by 
resorting  to  it,  rely  on  getting  a  desirable  animal 
without  being  a  judge  of  milking  qualities. 

The  Ayrshires  are  more  uniformly  large  milkers, 
probably,  than  any  other  breed,  but  defective  speci- 
mens occur  among  them,  making  selections  necessary 
to  ensure  excellence. 

The  Alderneys  excel  as  generally  in  richness  and 
color  as  the  Ayrshires  do  in  quantity,  but  they  are  not 
infallible. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  larger  flow  than  is 


5^  American  Dairying, 

sometimes  obtained  from  the  Shorthorns,  but  as  a 
breed  they  are  unequal.  The  rich  milk  of  the  Devons 
is  also  uneven.  The  Dutch  cow,  or  Holstein,  more 
recently  introduced,  promises  well  both  for  quantity 
and  quality,  but  like  all  the  rest,  needs  to  be  carefully 
selected  to  secure  a  first-class  milker.  No  larger  yield 
or  richer  milk  is  found  anywhere  than  has  been  ob- 
tained from  the  native  cows,  but  they,  like  the  short 
horns,  are  uneven.  The  famous  Oaks  cow,  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  cows  of  her  time,  having  made 
4^7 X  pounds  of  butter  in  a  year,  was  a  native.  The 
cow  Kaatskill,  that  made  about  as  much,  and  the  Ver- 
mont cow,  that  made  504  pounds  of  butter  in  a  year, 
were  natives.  We  have  had  in  our  own  dairy  natives 
that  have  made  a  pound  of  butter  from  12^  pounds 
of  milk,  and  on  the  other  hand,  some  that  have  re- 
quired 44  pounds  ot  milk  to  one  of  butter.  The  ex- 
tremes in  quantity  are  as  great,  sometimes  running 
down  to  an  amount  more  befitting  a  sheep  than  a  cow. 
We  have,  as  a  rule,  found  grades  to  be  better  milkers 
than  either  side  of  the  ancestors  from  which  they  have 
descended. 

Crosses  between  thorough  breds  are  also  frequently 
improvements  upon  the  original  stock.  The  extra- 
ordinary dairy  of  Mr.  Fish,  mentioned  before,  was 
made  up  of  grades  and  crosses,  most  of  them  crosses 
between  Ayrshires  and  a  milking  strain  of  Shorthorns. 
The  large  annual  demand  for  dairy  cattle  must  be 
supplied  from  any  and  all  sources  that  are  available. 
The  selections,  however,  must  come  mostly  from  the 
native  stock.  Culling  from  different  sources,  and 
from  animals  of  such  unequal  merit,  calls  for  the 
readiest  skill  in  judging  of  the  external  signs  of  milk- 
ing qualities. 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock.  ^^ 

There  are  certain  external  indications  of  the  capacity 
for  producing  milk  which  are  as  apparent  from  an 
inspection  of  the  cow  as  are  the  signs  of  strength  and 
speed  in  the  horse.  In  old  dairy  districts,  where  the 
owners  are  in  the  habit  of  filling  up  their  herds  an- 
nually by  purchase,  thev  soon  become  so  expert  as 
seldom  to  be  deceived. 

To  write  out  all  the  marks  that  are  relied  upon  as 
showing  merit  and  demerit,  would  be  difficult.  They 
are  best  learned  by  practice  and  close  observation. 
But  some  of  the  leading  points  may  be  stated  that  will 
be  of  some  service  in  determining  some  of  the  wider 
differences. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to 
the  appearance  of  good  milkers,  and  a  multitude  of 
irrelevant  and  nonsensical  signs  have  been  laid  before 
the  public,  which  have  tended  rather  to  confuse  and 
mislead  than  to  guide  and  enlighten  the  inexperienced. 
A  sign  which  has  no  connection  wnth  the  thing  it 
claims  to  signify  is  always  w^orse  than  useless,  as  it  is 
just  as  likely  to  lead  wrong  as  right,  and  detracts  from 
more  intelligent  indications.  What  important  con- 
nection is  there  between  a  large  flow  of  milk  and  a 
"  Roman  nose,"  or  "  a  hollow  head ;"  a  long  head  or 
a  short  one;  a  crumpled  horn  or  a  straight  one,  or 
one  that  tapers  evenly  or  unevenly;  or  a  straight  leg, 
or  a  slim  tail ;  or  a  peculiarly  shaped  ear  or  dewlap  ; 
or  whether  the  eye-lids  are  well  divided,  or  much 
or  little  wrinkled  ?  Yet  these  and  a  score  of  other 
signs  equally  irrelevant  are  ever  and  anon  circulating 
through  the  press  to  guide,  or  rather  mislead,  the  in- 
experienced purchaser. 

The  reader  will  see  for  himself  how  the  following 
points  are  connected  with  milk  production,  and  by 


^6  America n  Dairying. 

attentive  observation  will  soon  learn  to  make  them  of 
practical  utility. 

Milk  is  a  female  product,  and  its  production  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  be  more  or  less  affected,  if 
the  organization  varies  much  from  the  characteristics 
peculiar  to  the  sex.  First  of  all,  see  that  the  animal 
has  a  feminine  appearance — a  cowy  look.  The  next 
thing  to  be  looked  after,  is  the  digestive  apparatus, 
particularly  the  stomach  and  bowels.  A  large  and 
strong  boiler  is  not  more  essential  to  the  power  of  an 
engine,  than  a  large  and  vigorous  stomach  is  to  the 
production  of  milk.  A  cow  cannot  make  milk  out  of 
nothing.  If  she  gives  a  large  flow,  she  must  eat  and 
digest  a  large  amount  of  food  to  make  it  from,  and 
she  must  have  a  stomach  equal  to  the  task ;  one  that 
has  capacity  to  hold  and  power  to  digest  enough  to 
manufacture  the  milk  out  of. 

When  the  digestive  organs  are  relatively  larger  than 
the  other  viscera,  they  give  depth  and  breadth  to  the 
abdomen,  and  a  somewhat  wedge-shaped  form — the 
body  tapering  forward.  An  inclination  to  this  struc- 
ture may  be  seen  in  the  illustration  of  the  Ayrshire 
cow  in  the  chapter  on  breeds. 

The  large  stomach  and  bowels  here  indicated  mark 
a  diathesis  in  which  the  fluids  abound — a  condition,  as 
will  readily  be  understood,  very  essential  to  a  large 
flow  of  milk ;  and  the  broad  hips,  and  the  depth  and 
breadth  of  the  lumbar  region,  indicate  a  large  develop- 
ment and  flow  of  blood,  and  vital  influence  to  all  the 
parts  surrounding  and  connected  with  the  milk-pro- 
ducing vessels.     Gaunt  cows  are  small  milkers. 

A  good  constitution  is  important.  This  may  be 
judged  of  by  the  lustre  of  the  hair  and  the  brilliancy 
of  the  eyes  and  horns.     Constitution  depends  mostly 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock.  57 

upon  the  heart  and  lungs,  the  size  of  which  may  be 
determined  by  the  depth  and  breadth  of  the  thorax. 
They  should  have  a  good  development,  enough  to 
secure  health  and  vigor,  but  the  lungs,  in  particular, 
should  not  be  excessively  large.  When  very  large, 
they  burn  up,  by  increased  respiration,  the  fat-forming 
material.  By  the  extraordinary  energy  they  create, 
they  induce  unusual  exercise  and  motion,  which  make 
a  rapid  waste  of  tissue  and  a  rapid  assimilation  to 
repair  it,  and  thus  divert  nutriment  from  producing 
milk.  If  too  small,  the  animal  may  be  an  excellent 
milker  while  she  lives,  but  will  be  feeble  and  short- 
lived. 

The  capacity  of  the  lungs  corresponds  with  the  size 
of  the  apertures  through  which  they  are  filled.  Large 
open  nostrils  indicate  large  lungs,  and  vice  versa.  In 
the  same  way,  the  indications  of  the  mouth  correspond 
with  the  size  of  the  stomach.  (See  the  large  mouth 
and  large  strong  hips  of  the  illustration  of  Jersey  cow.) 

The  chine  is  regarded  as  an  index  to  milking  ca- 
pacity. When  it  is  double,  it  denotes  breadth  of  ver- 
tebrae which  correspond  to  the  broad  open  structure 
which  is  favorable  to  a  large  flow. 

It  is  an  accompaniment  of  broad  hips,  and  these  in 
turn  denote  a  large  cavity  which  is  essential  to  good 
milkers. 

The  milk  mirror,  or  escutcheon  of  Guenon,  is  one  of 
the  leading  indications  of  milking  capacity.  It  con- 
sists of  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  hair  on  the  udder. 

Looking  at  the  hind  part  of  the  cow,  as  shown  in 
the  accompanying  illustration,  more  or  less  of  the 
hair  which  covers  the  udder  and  adjacent  parts,  will 
be  seen,  to  turn  upward  or  outward.  This  reversed 
hair  forms  the  so-called   escutcheon.      If  the   space 


j8  American  Dairying. 

occupied  by  the  upturned  hair,  especially  the  lower 
part  of  it,  is  very  large  and  broad,  so  that  it  extends 
far  outward  on  to  the  thighs,  it  is  regarded  as  indica- 
ting a  large  flow  of  milk.  (See  illustration  on  page 
59.)  If  the  upper  part  of  it  is  broad  and  smooth,  it  is 
regarded  as  favorable  to  a  prolonged  flow.  If  the 
reversed  hair  is  narrow  in  its  lower  part,  the  flow  is 
supposed  to  be  small  ;  if  it  is  narrow  and  irregular  in 
its  upper  part,  it  is  unfavorable  to  a  prolonged  flow. 
The  manner  in  which  the  inverted  hair  connects  with 
the  hair  adjacent,  is  supposed  to  have  significance.  A 
gradual  blending  rather  than  abrupt  connection  is 
preferred. 

The  connection  of  the  escutcheon  (or  scutcheon) 
with  the  flow  of  milk  is  accounted  for  by  Magne,  who 
says,  that  the  hair  turns  in  the  direction  in  which  the 
arteries  ramify,  and  that  the  reversed  hair  on  the  udder 
and  adjacent  parts  indicates  the  termination  of  the 
arteries  which  supply  the  udder  with  blood.  When 
these  arteries  are  large,  they  are  not  confined  to  the 
udder,  but  extend  down  through  it  and  upward  and 
outward,  ramifying  on  the  skin  beyond  the  udder, 
giving  the  hair  the  peculiar  appearance  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  rest  of  the  surface.  If  the 
arteries  supplying  the  udder  with  blood  are  very 
small,  they  are  not  likely  to  extend  much  beyond  the 
udder  and  hence  form  a  small  escutcheon.  Hence,  a 
small  escutcheon  indicates  a  feeble  supply  of  blood  to 
the  udder,  and  consequently  but  litttle  material  to 
make  milk  of,  and  hence  a  small  flow  of  milk. 

Guenon  studied  and  explained  these  marks  only  as 
they  appear  on  the  hind  part  of  the  bag,  and  the  marks 
noticed  by  him  were  supposed  to  apply  to  the  whole 
udder.     This  could  not  well  be  true.     Each  quarter  of 


Selecting  Dairy  Slock, 


59 


the  udder  is  supplied  with  blood  by  a  distinct  and 
separate  arterial  branch,  and  they  may,  and  often  do, 
vary  considerably  in  size  in  the  respective  quarters  of 
the  bag.  Those  supplying  the  two  hind  quarters  of 
the  bag  are  usually  larger  than  those  which  supply 
the  front  part,  but  sometimes  the  reverse  is  true,  in 
which  case  the  marks  on  the  back  part  of  the  bag 
would  not  be  a  correct  indication  of  the  front  part, 
and  so  with  other  inequalities.  Each  quarter  of  the 
bag  has  an  escutcheon  for  itself,  made  by  the  ramifi- 
cations of  the  arterial  branch  supplying  it  with  blood, 


6o  American  Dairying. 

and  which  serves  as  an  index  only  to  that  division  of 
the  udder.  These  mirrors  blend  in  the  middle  and 
appear  as  one,  but  the  outside  of  the  reversed  hair 
varies  for  each  quarter  according  to  the  size  of  the 
arterial  branch  by  which  it  is  supported.  Cornelius 
Baldwin,  of  Nelson,  Ohio,  who  has  studied  milk 
marks  very  closely,  gives  as  much  significance  to  the 
mirror  on  the  front  part  of  the  bag  as  that  on  the  hind 
part.  If  there  is  more  escutcheon  on  one  side  or  one 
quarter  of  the  bag,  it  indicates  a  flow  from  that  side 
or  quarter  corresponding  to  the  excess  of  the  devel- 
opment. 

The  size  of  the  escutcheon  is  regarded  as  the  meas- 
ure of  the  quantity  ot  blood  supplied  to  the  milk-pro- 
ducing vessels,  and  are  evidence  of  their  capability 
of  elaborating  milk.  In  the  same  way,  the  veins  take 
up  the  blood  and  carry  it  back  in  the  milk  veins, 
which  pass  through  the  bag  and  along  the  belly,  and 
enter  the  body  through  one  or  more  holes  on  their 
way  to  the  heart.  The  size  of  these  milk  veins  and 
the  holes  where  they  enter  the  body  vary  Avith  the 
escutcheon,  and  like  it  give  evidence  of  the  quantity 
of  venous  blood  passing  away  from  and  through  the 
udder,  and  they  have  the  same  significance  with  refer- 
ence to  quantity,  as  the  supply  of  arterial  blood  and 
the  size  of  the  escutcheon. 

But  none  of  these  indications,  taken  singly,  is  an 
infallible  evidence  of  large  yield.  They  must  be  con- 
sidered together.  A  large  escutcheon  and  milk  veins, 
coupled  with  a  small  stomach,  would  be  marked  down 
at  least  one-half  of  what  they  might  otherwise  signify; 
and  a  large  digestive  apparatus,  coupled  with  small 
milk  veins  and  escutcheon,  should  be  marked  down 
in  the  same  way.       Keeping  the  leading  indications 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock.  61 

in  view,  observation  will  soon  enable  one  to  make 
close  estimates. 

Soft,  fine  hair,  is  by  many  regarded  as  an  evidence 
of  richness,  and  oftenerthan  otherwise  it  proves  true; 
but  some  cows  that  give  the  very  richest  milk  have 
hair  that  is  not  so  very  fine  and  soft.  The  appearance 
of  the  skin  is  another  guide.  A  clear  white,  or  pale 
skin,  is  an  evidence,  either  that  yellow  fat  is  not 
formed,  or  if  formed,  the  peculiarities  of  the  animal 
are  such  that  it  is  used  up  in  supporting  respiration. 
When  it  is  so  abundant  as  to  lodge  in  the  pores  of  the 
skin  and  give  it  a  yellow  color,  it  may  be  expected  to 
appear  also  in  the  milk  and  give  it  the  same  color. 
High  color  and  richness  seldom  fail  to  go  together, 
hence  a  yellow  skin  becomes  an  evidence  of  rich  milk  ; 
but  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  skin  is  of  such  a  hue 
that  the  yellow  fat  does  not  affect  its  color — in  such  a 
case,  appearance  of  the  skin  has  no  significance.  One 
of  the  best  indications  to  the  richness  of  milk  is  the 
appearance  of  the  inside  of  the  ear.  If  that  is  yellow 
and  sheds  a  yellow  dandruff,  rich  yellow  milk  is  very 
sure  to  accompany.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  the 
twist. 

The  fat  of  animals  is  stored  in  a  net  work  of  cells, 
called  cellular  tissue,  and  an  abundance  of  these  cells 
is  coupled  with  a  tendency  to  form  fat  wherewith  to 
fill  them.  When  a  cow  is  in  milk,  the  fat  formed  is 
carried  away  in  the  milk,  making  it  rich.  Hence, 
where  this  tissue  abounds,  rich  milk  may  be'expected. 
When  dry,  the  cow  having  it  fattens  rapidly.  The 
supply  of  cellular  tissue  may  be  known  by  feeling  the 
skin.  When  it  is  plentiful  it  forms  a  sort  of  cushion 
under  the  skin,  giving  it  a  soft  and  mellow  feeling. 
When  it  is  wanting,  the  skin  feels  hard,  and  the  hand. 


62  American  Dairying. 

when  resting  on  the  animal,  feels  very  much  as  if  rest- 
ing on  the  bare  bones.  A  soft  velvety  feeling  of  the 
skin  on  the  rump  and  ribs,  is  a  strong  indication  of 
adipose  tissue  in  abundance,  which  promotes  ready 
fatting  and  rich  milk. 

For  reasons  explained  under  the  description  of  the 
udder,  a  bottle-shaped  bag  is  favorable  to  richness  of 
milk. 

What  breed  of  cows  is  best  depends  on  where  and 
what  they  are  wanted  for.  If  a  single  cow  or  a  few 
cows  are  wanted  to  furnish  milk  and  butter  for  family 
use,  there  is  nothing  better  than  the  Alderney.  Their 
milk  and  butter  are  exceedingly  delicious.  If  one 
lives  near  a  city  or  large  village,  and  wishes  to  sell 
butter  fresh  from  the  churn,  nothing  would  find  a 
more  ready  market  or  stand  up  better  under  the  heat 
of  summer  than  Jersey  butter.  But  if  the  object 
were  to  sell  milk  by  the  quart,  a  poorer  choice  could 
hardly  be  made  than  to  select  the  Alderney  cow,  un- 
less a  price  could  be  obtained  proportionate  to  the 
quality  of  the  milk.  If  the  purpose  were  to  make 
cheese,  or  butter  and  cheese  from  the  same  milk,  then 
nothing  is  equal  to  the  Ayrshire,  especially  on  hilly 
farms.  If  to  milk  awhile  and  then  convert  into  beef 
should  be  what  the  purchaser  wants,  the  Shorthorn 
or  Holstein  would  be  preferable.  The  Devons  and 
the  natives  may  also  be  preferred  for  special  purposes. 
There  is  no  single  breed  of  cows  which  will  best  suit 
every  locality  and  requirement.  The  cow  which  will 
come  the  nearest  to  filling  all  demands  is,  in  my  opin- 
ion, the  Ayrshire,  but  she  is  not  best  everywhere. 
The  Holstein  or  Dutch  cattle,  not  so  long  nor  so  ex- 
tensively tested,  are  finding  great  favor  where  beef  in 
addition  to   milk  for  cheese  is  desired.     Not  all  the 


Selecting  Dairy  Stock.  6j 

importations  of  thorough  bred  stock,  I  have  reason  to 
believe,  have  been  made  up  of  the  best  animals.  The 
great  difference  in  the  qualities  of  the  animals  would 
make  it  hazardous  to  order  cows  without  some  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  cows  or  their  breeder. 

Generally,  large  breeds  are  preferred  where  there  is 
an  abundance  of  food  easy  of  access,  as  in  the  valleys 
of  rivers,  the  plains  of  the  west,  or  the  rich  rolling 
pastures  of  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  region.     They 
are  also  well   adapted  to  the  less  severe  hills  of  the 
Eastern  and  Middle  States.     The  smaller  breeds  have 
the  preference  in  all  hilly  regions,  and  in  all  situations 
where  much  locomotion  is  required  to  procure  food. 
While  adapting  the  kind  of  stock  to  his  location,  the 
dairyman  should  not  omit  to  procure  animals  whose 
former  habits  and  fare  have  been  as  nearly  as  possible 
like  those  they  are  to  receive  at  his  hands.     The  less 
change  in  the  habits  of  milch  cows  the  better.     In 
changing   places,    where  there    is  a  wide  change  in 
their  treatment  and   mode  of  living,  it  takes  a  long 
time  for  adult  cows  to  become  used  to  their  new  situ- 
ation.     For  this  reason,  cows  which  are  bought  in  to 
fill  up  dairies,   often  fail  for  a  whole  season  to  give 
their  accustomed  mess,  and  sometimes  for  the  second 
and  even  the  third.      On  this  account  there  is  a  decided 
advantage  in  raising  stock  on  the  farm  with  which  to 
replace  the  failing  and  worn  out  members  of  the  flock. 
The  cows  which  are  raised  on  the  farm  are  worth  one- 
quarter  more  than  those  of  the  same  natural  capacity 
which  have  to  endure  a  long  journey  and  a  change  of 
food  and  habits,  to  be  placed  in  the  dairy. 

Having  described  what  a  cow  should  be,  I  close  this 
subject  with  offering  a  sample  of  a  faulty  cow,  with 
which  I   have  been  favored  by   Mr.    C.  Baldwin,   of 


6+ 


American  Dairying. 


Ohio.  It  shows  better  than  words  can  describe,  just 
what  a  cow  should  not  be.  This  cow  in  the  flush  of 
feed  and  in  her  fullest  flow,  gave  i8  pounds  per  day 
of  very  poor  milk. 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  6' 


J 


FOOD  FOR  DAIRY  STOCK 


The  question  of  food  for  dairy  cattle  is  a  wide  one. 
It  involves  not  only  the  discussion  of  the  qualities 
and  effects  of  the  various  kinds  of  food  in  use,  but 
also  their  relative  values  and  cost.  It  requires  a 
knowledge  of  the  different  qualities  in  food  suitable 
for  dairy  and  other  stock  respectively,  and  of  the 
special  requirements  of  the  cows  when  simply  feed- 
ing, when  being  fattened,  and  when  giving  milk  or 
breeding,  or  both  at  the  same  time ;  also,  whether  the 
cow  is  exposed  to  heat  or  cold,  and  what  is  the  con- 
dition in  which  the  feed  is  to  be  given.  In  short,  it 
calls  up  the  whole  question  of  cattle  food  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  reaches  out  with  such  wide  ramifications, 
that  nothing  short  of  a  plethoric  octavo  could  do  any- 
thing like  justice  to  the  subject.  For  an  elementary 
work  like  this,  nothing  more  than  brief  outlines  can 
be  attempted. 

The  cost  and  economical  use  of  food  for  the  dairy 
determines  more  than  any  other  outlay  the  measure 
of  success.  The  cost  of  stock,  labor,  apparatus 
and  buildings,  is  not  very  different  in  the  several 
localities  in  which  dairy  husbandry  is,  or  can  be 
carried  on  ;  and  the  condensedness  in  bulk  and  value 
of  butter  and  cheese  and  the  ease  of  handling  the 
packages,  make  the  cost  of  transportation  so  light 
as  to  put  dairymen  all  over  the  continent  nearly  on  a 


66  American  Dairying. 

level  with  each  other,  so  far  as  freight  charges  are 
concerned.  But  in  the  cost  of  food  there  is  great 
variance.  The  widest  difference  in  this  respect  is 
found  in  the  price  of  dairy  farms.  If  one  farm  costs 
$150  per  acre,  as  in  central  New  York,  and  another 
costs  $50  an  acre,  and  it  takes  three  acres  to  keep  a 
cow  a  year,  reckoning  interest  at  six  per  cent.,  the 
annual  interest  on  the  land  to  keep  a  single  cow,  will, 
in  one  case  be  $27,  and  in  the  other  $9.  This  makes 
Ji 8  difference  in  the  cost  of  supplying  a  year's  food, 
and  the  profit  ought  to  be  large  to  carry  it. 

This  annual  difference  in  the  cost  of  keeping,  if  all 
other  circumstances  were  equal,  would  more  than  pay 
the  cost  of  transporting  the  products  of  a  season 
across  the  continent  and  back  again.  It  would  give 
the  producer  in  any  part  of  the  West  or  Canada  the 
advantage  in  the  markets  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  cost  of  procuring  food  for  his  herd  is  the 
heaviest  expense  the  dairyman  has  to  encounter,  and 
its  production  and  economical  use  need  to  be  closely 
studied  and  managed  with  skill,  or  the  balance  is 
liable  to  get  on  the  wrong  side  of  his  account, 
especially  upon  the  high  priced  lands  of  the  older 
states.  The  difference  in  the  price  of  land  East  and 
West,  is  a  powerful  reason  in  favor  of  an  extension 
of  dairying  westward. 

Not  only  its  cost,  but  its  quality  must  be  closely 
studied,  because  every  variation  affects  the  quality  of 
the  milk.  Cattle  food  has  been  the  subject  of  a  great 
deal  of  discussion,  and  much  light  has  been  thrown 
upon  it,  but  there  are  very  many  important  points  yet 
unsettled,  which  science  and  practical  observation  are 
striving  unitedly  to  solve.  When  they  agree  upon 
any  point  it  may  be  considered  settled.     It  is  curious 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  6y 

to  note  their  points  of  agreement  and  divergence,  and 
the  progress  they  respectively  make.  Science  would 
move  or  rest  on  rigid  logic.  Practical  men,  strug- 
gling with  hard  labor  and  limited  means,  are  keenly 
alive  to  every  opening  for  loss  or  gain,  and  are  con- 
trolled by  these  results,  and  though  they  sometimes 
form  opinions  wide  of  the  mark  and  prejudicial  to 
their  own  welfare,  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  very 
often  their  experience  and  intelligent  observation  lead 
them  to  uniform  and  sound  conclusions,  even  in  ad- 
vance of  science.  Ask  a  hundred  dairymen  what  is 
the  best  food  for  cows  in  milk,  and  with  one  accord 
they  will  all  answer  "grass,"  which  means  young 
grass  as  it  is  grazed  from  the  turf.  With  this  answer 
science  accords,  and  we  consider  it  settled. 

Nothing  excites  such  a  liberal  secretion  of  delicious 
milk  as  grass.  Nothing  better  contributes  to  the  health 
and  general  welfare  of  the  herd  than  to  roam  free  in 
the  open  air  upon  clean  pastures,  eating  and  drinking, 
moving  and  resting  when  they  will.  More  food  and 
more  milk,  may  perhaps  be  obtained  from  a  given 
area  of  ground,  by  some  other  way  than  by  grazing, 
but  nothing  can  surpass  grass  in  the  excellence  of  its 
products,  and  on  lands  of  moderate  price,  the  almost 
universal  practice  of  dairymen  argues  that  it  is,  all 
things  considered,  the  cheapest  as  well  as  the  best. 
In  considering  food  for  the  dairy,  we  shall  assume 
that  for  all  ordinary  cases,  grass  ought  to  be  used  as 
long  as  it  can  be  obtained,  and  when  no  longer  avail- 
able, then  such  food  as  comes  nearest  to  it. 

We  will  begin  with  grass  in  the  spring  and  follow 
through  the  year  to  grass  again.  Divergent  practices 
appear  at  the  outset.  It  is  the  practice  of  some  to 
keep  their  cows  yarded  and  not  allowed  to  taste  grass 


68  AuicricLDi  Dairying. 

till  it  iso^rovvn  high  enough  for  them  to  fill  themselves 
readily,  and  to  subsist  on  it  entirely.  Others  allow 
them  the  range  of  the  pasture,  or  a  part  of  it,  and  let 
them  change  gradually  from  hay  to  grass  as  the  latter 
comes  slowly  forward.  There  are  advantages  and 
disadvantages  in  both  these  practices.  It  may  be  urged 
on  one  side  that  feed  will  hold  out  better  to  keep  the 
herd  from  it  till  there  is  a  "full  bite,"  and  that  by 
tasting  grass  cows  lose  their  appetite  for  hay  and  will 
not  eat  enough  to  keep  up  their  flesh  and  strength, 
all  of  which  is  true.  On  the  other  side,  it  may  be 
said  that  it  is  better  for  cows,  or  any  other  stock,  ro 
change  gradually  from  dry  feed  to  green,  and  that  the 
season  for  dry  food,  always  too  long,  is  stretched  to  its 
utmost  by  shutting  cows  from  the  early  grass,  which 
is  also  true.  A  sudden  and  radical  change  of  food 
for  either  man  or  beast  is  always  attended  with  ill  con- 
sequences. The  condition  of  the  stomach  and  bowels, 
and  the  quality  of  the  gastric  juices,  adapt  themselves 
to  the  nature  of  the  food  used.  To  break  up  an  estab- 
lished order  of  things,  deranges  all  the  operations  of 
the  system  and  impairs  its  functions.  In  turning  cows 
suddenly  and  wholly  upon  grass,  they  are  usually 
made  sick  for  several  days,  and  their  milk  is  so  much 
affected  as  to  work  badly  in  the  cheese-vat  for  a  week 
or  more.  Diarrhoea  sets  in,  they  become  weak,  and 
the  loss  of  flesh  by  scouring  is  often  greater  than  that 
occasioned  by  a  loss  of  appetite  for  hay.  It  is  the 
general  practice  with  the  best  dairymen  to  give  their 
cows  early  the  range  of  at  least,  a  part  of,  their  pasture. 
We  have  always  found  it  better,  taking  the  season 
through,  to  make  the  change  from  hay  to  grass  a 
gradual  one,  and  to  prevent  any  tendency  to  falling 
away  by  extra  feed.     There  is  also  the  advantao:e.  in 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  6(^ 

turning  out  early,  of  having  the  first  tufts  of  grass 
eaten  off  and  utilizing  the  space  they  occupy,  instead 
of  leaving  them  unused  to  cumber  the  ground  during 
the  whole  season. 

But,  if  from  scanty  pasturing  or  any  other  cause,  a 
dairyman  determines  to  shut  his  cows  entirely  from 
grass  till  feed  is  abundant,  he  may  abate  the  ill  effects 
of  a  too  long  season  of  foddering,  and  prepare  his 
cows  for  a  diet  of  grass,  by  feeding  some  kind  of  green 
food — as  beets,  carrots,  mangolds,  turnips  or  potatoes. 
By  baiting  the  herd  an  hour  or  so  at  a  time  each  day, 
for  a  few  days,  and  by  closing  up  the  foddering  season 
with  early  cut  hay  and  some  green  food,  the  cows  may 
be  so  well  prepared  for  grass  that  they  will  not  be 
much  affected  by  the  change,  though  they  may  not  be 
turned  out  till  quite  late;  but  a  small  quantity  of 
good  hay  will  be  relished  by  cows  a  long  time  after 
they  have  been  turned  to  grass,  and  it  should  be  fed 
as  long  as  they  will  eat  it,  for  it  wil^  keep  them  from 
scouring,  and  promote  a  healthy  digestion. 

Salt  ought  at  all  times  to  enter  into  the  food  of  the 
dairy  cow,  and  it  should  be  kept  where  she  can  par- 
take of  it  ad  libitum.  It  enters  largely  into  the  mineral 
elements  of  the  milk,  and  as  these  elements  are  in 
scanty  proportion  in  young  grass,  it  is  most  needed  in 
the  early  part  of  summer.  Both  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  milk  are  considerably  affected  by  withhold- 
ing salt  till  the  cows  get  hungry  for  it.  Cows  in  the 
season  of  lactation  require  more  salt  than  at  otlicr 
times,  and  those  that  give  the  most  milk  require  the 
most  of  it.  In  some  experiments  in  June  it  was  found 
that  by  letting  the  cows  go  without  salt  five  days,  they 
fell  off  in  their  milk  two  per  cent,  in  quantity,  and 
seven   per  cent,  in  quality,  making  a  loss  of  nine  per 


yo  American  Dairying. 

cent,  on  the  cheese,  which  was  at  once  restored  by 
SLipplyins^  salt  again.  While  cows  are  at  grass,  salt 
should  be  given  every  day,  and  in  May  and  June  it  is 
well  to  give  it  twice  a  day. 

We  may  now  pass  on  to  midsummer  with  the  re- 
mark tliat  while  grass  is  used  it  should  be  abundant, 
so  that  the  herd  can  fill  themselves  readily  and  rest 
and  ruminate. 

It  is  not  believed  to  be  the  best  plan  to  depend  en- 
tirely on  grazing  through  the  wliole  season.  To  do 
this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  reduce  tlie  stock  sc  low 
as  to  have  a  large  surplus  of  feed  in  June  and  July, 
otherwise  there  would  be  a  deficiency  in  midsummer. 
Grass  that  gets  very  much  ahead  of  the  stock,  is  liable 
to  waste  by  tramping  down,  and  to  lose  its  value  by 
becoming  dry  and  woody. 

It  may  be  said  of  the  long-leaved  grasses,  the  older 
they  are,  the  poorer  the  butter  and  cheese  made  from 
them.  This  remark  will  not,  however,  apply  to  all 
forage  plants. 

But  it  is  desirable  to  make  the  grazing  season  as 
long  as  we  can,  and  it  may  be  prolonged  by  sowing 
different  varieties  of  grass,  the  mixture  including  such 
as  will  come  forward  in  regular  succession  of  time. 
Orchard  grass  is  one  of  the  earliest,  and  is  an  excel- 
lent one  to  graze  off  with  in  the  spring,  and  red  clover 
with  its  long  roots  reaching  down  to  moist  earth,  will 
hold  on  late,  while  timothy,  June  grass,  and  red-top, 
fill  up  the  space  between,  and  are  ready  to  revive  when 
the  dry  season  is  past. 

The  length  of  the  grazing  season  will  depend  very 
much  on  the  character  of  the  soil — whether  it  is  dry 
or  moist.  It  is  desirable  to  have  the  pasture,  or  part 
of  it,  at  least,  located  on  loamy  soil  that  will  retain 


Pood  for  Dairy  Stock.  *jl 

moisture  and  keep  the  feed  green.  It  is  thought  to 
pay  best  to  stock  so  as  not  to  have  a  large  surphis  of 
feed  at  the  approach  of  the  dry  season,  and  to  carry 
the  herd  through  the  drought  partly  on  grass  and 
partly  by  soiling. 

Where  food  is  in  great  abundance  at  little  or  no 
cost,  as  on  some  of  the  commons  of  the  west,  soiling 
is  of  less  account.  Soiling  grows  in  importance  with 
the  price  of  land.  But  it  is  important  anywhere  that 
cows  are  liable  to  shrink  in  their  milk  from  drought 
or  scanty  or  stale  feed. 

For  soiling,  fodder  corn  is  generally  used,  and  if 
there  is  occasion  for  soiling  before  corn  is  fit  to  use, 
winter  rye  and  green  oats  will  furnish  it  by  coming 
forward  early. 

There  is  much  diversity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
fitness  of  sowed  corn  for  soiling,  some  regarding  it 
as  nearly  worthless,  while  others  prize  it  highly.  It 
has  certainly  given  very  different  results  on  different 
farms.  But  this  difference  is  not  the  fault  of  the  corn, 
nor  of  the  farms  on  which  it  is  grown.  It  is  due  to 
the  faulty  manner  of  growing  and  feeding  it. 

Botanically,  corn  and  grass  belong  to  the  same 
family  of  plants.  Physiologically,  corn  and  grass  are 
quite  different.  The  greatest  per  centage  of  cheesy 
matter  and  butter  appear  in  the  earliest  stages  of  the 
growth  of  grass ;  they  are  then  most  highly  colored 
and  most  aromatic.  Steadily,  as  the  grass-plant  in- 
creases in  height  and  age  to  prepare  for  seed  bearing, 
the  per  centage  of  these  valuable  properties  begins  to 
diminish  and  the  color  to  grow  paler;  the  starch, 
sugar  and  gum  prepare  for,  and  begin  to  change  into, 
woody  fibre,  and  the  aroma  steadily  wastes  away.  In 
the  growth  of  corn  it   is  different.      Its  valuable  pro- 


J 2  American  Dairying. 

perties — its  casein,  butter,  sugar  and  aroma — deficient 
at  first,  steadily  improve  in  quality  and  increase  in 
per  centage  till  the  flowering  begins,  and  it  is  not  well 
to  feed  it  much  before  that  time.  Those  who  have 
condemned  it  have  fed  it  too  young,  or  have  sown  it 
so  thick  that  its  aliment  was  not  developed.  When  too 
thickly  planted,  its  stems  and  leaves  are  soft  and  pale, 
its  juices  thin  and  poor,  and  the  effect  is  a  growth 
somewhat  like  a  potato-vine  in  a  cellar.  If  sown  thin, 
or  in  drills,  so  that  the  air  and  light  and  heat  of  the 
sun  can  reach  it,  and  not  fed  till  nearly  its  full  size,  it 
is  a  valuable  soiling  plant,  and  is  fed  with  satisfactory 
results. 

Fodder  corn  when  fed  as  it  comes  from  the  field, 
fresh  and  green,  contains  too  much  water  to  produce 
the  best  results.  Cows  will  relish  it  better  and  eat 
more  of  it,  and  give  more  and  richer  milk,  if  it  is 
wilted  and  partially  dried  before  feeding.  Hon.  Har- 
ris Lewis,  of  Frankfort,  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,  who 
has  largely  practiced  soiling  with  grass,  finds  that 
grass  also  produces  better  results  if  wilted  before  it  is 
fed,  and  that  both  grass  and  corn,  when  fed  wet  or 
even  unwilted,  should  be  followed  by  a  light  feed  of 
good  dry  hay  to  absorb  their  extra  moisture  before 
digestion. 

In  its  best  estate,  fodder  corn  is  deficient  in  flesh- 
forming  material,  and  should  not  be  fed  alone.  Grass 
or  wheat-bran,  or  some  food  richer  in  albuminoids, 
should  always  be  used  with  it  to  produce  the  best 
effect. 

In  respect  to  valuable  properties,  lucern  is  far 
ahead  of  corn,  being  quite  rich  in  albuminoids.  Lu- 
cern is  an  excellent  soiling  plant,  and  yields  a  very 
large  crop,  on  soils  adapted  to  its  growth.     It  requires 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock,  yj 

a  light,  deep,  rich  soil,  and  one  that  is  clean  and  free 
from  weeds.  Its  growth  is  rapid  and  its  deep  roots 
strike  so  far  down  into  the  earth  as  to  enable  it  to 
reach  moisture  in  the  most  severe  droughts.  Its 
abundant  nutrition,  its  large  and  rapid  growth,  its 
perennial  roots  that  save  the  necessity  of  annual  seed- 
ing and  culture,  and  its  ability  to  flourish  in  soils 
liable  to  suffer  from  extreme  drought,  make  it  a  val- 
uable soiling  plant  for  special  localities.  I  cannot 
speak  of  it  from  experience,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
it  is  as  well  adapted  for  the  general  purpose  of  soil- 
ing as  some  other  plants.  Mr.  Lewis  tried  it  on  the 
alluvial  flats  of  the  Mohawk  and  on  the  loamy  up- 
lands of  his  farm,  but  fell  back  upon  orchard  grass, 
as  being,  all  things  considered,  the  most  profitable. 

The  two  varieties  of  red  clover,  large  and  small, 
are  extensively  used  both  for  soiling  and  grazing. 
The  points  which  give  them  preference  with  dairymen 
are,  the  large  amount  of  nutritious  feed  they  yield, 
the  rapidity  with  which  their  growth  is  renew^ed,  their 
ability  to  endure  drought  by  reason  of  their  long 
fusiform  roots,  and  their  well  known  action  as  fertil- 
izers. More  butter  and  cheese  can  be  made  from  a 
given  area  of  clover  than  of  grass,  but  the  quality  of 
neither  will  be  as  good  as  w^hen  made  from  grass. 

It  is  a  question  that  must  be  settled  by  local  circum- 
stances, whether  the  smaller  and  better  product  is 
more  or  less  profitable  than  a  larger  and  inferior  one. 
Clover,  in  its  green  and  succulent  state,  especially 
when  the  growth  is  young  and  very  rank,  carries  in 
its  sap  a  property  that  modifies  the  flavor  and  quality 
of  both  butter  and  cheese.  This  property,  whatever 
it  maybe,  is  often  carried  into  milk  in  such  quantity, 
when  clover  is  young  and  fresh,  as  to  produce  taint  in 


"14  American  Dairying. 

the  milk  and  floating  curds,  and  is  perhaps  identical 
with  the  cause  of  hoven.  But  this  peculiarity  fades 
away  as  the  plant  approaches  flowering,  and,  like  the 
poison  in  parsnips,  is  destroyed  by  drying,  or  even 
wilting.  Wilted,  dried,  or  even  steamed  clover,  pro- 
duces more  of  the  peculiarities  of  its  fresh  condition, 
and  in  this  way  may  be  used  with  good  advantage  as 
a  soiling  plant.  The  wilting,  or  partial  drying,  should 
never  be  omitted. 

The  prevailing  practice  among  the  best  dairymen 
of  New  York  and  New  England,  is  to  commence  soil- 
ing with  green  rye,  clover,  orchard  grass,  green  oats, 
or  fodder  corn,  before  the  grass  has  become  much 
scanted,  so  that  the  herd  shall  at  first  depend  about 
equally  on  grazing  and  soiling.  In  this  way,  no 
shock  is  felt  in  the  feeding,  and  no  shrinking  in  the 
milk  occurs  except  the  natural  decrease  by  distance 
from  the  time  of  coming  in.  Thus  the  herd  is  carried 
steadily  along  till  relieved  by  an  increased  growth 
from  fall  rains,  if  perchance,  they  come. 

Whatever  course  is  taken  by  the  farmer,  some  pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  keeping  up  the  flow  when 
grass  first  fails.  If  this  is  not  done,  diminished  milk 
and  milk  products  must  be  expected  the  remainder  of 
the  season.  After  a  cow  is  well  alonor  in  the  milkine 
season,  and  especially  if  she  is  with  calf,  as  she  is  very 
likely  to  be  in  August,  if  she  is  allowed  to  fall  away 
in  her  milk,  she  cannot  by  any  after  feeding  be  brouglit 
up  to  give  as  much  as  she  would  have  given  had  the 
flow  been  kept  up  all  along.  High  feeding  will  then 
stimulate  the  growth  of  the  foetus,  and  the  cow  will 
run  to  flesh  rather  than  milk.  Earlier  in  the  season, 
especially  for  a  few  weeks  after  coming  in,  the  activity 
of  the  milk  glands  is  such  that  they  will  rob  the  blood 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  ^5 

of  the  cow  of  what  is  necessary  to  supply  her  daily 
waste,  and  she  will  grow  poor  under  their  action  if 
she  is  not  abundantly  fed.  But  later  in  the  season 
those  glands  abate  their  activity,  and  the  increasing 
vigor  of  the  cow  and  her  growing  foetus,  make  tl)e 
strongest  draught  upon  her  nutrition,  and  if  there  is 
any  deficiency,  it  will  be  felt  in  the  milk.  Hence  the 
great  necessity  of  never  slacking  in  the  supply  of  feed 
after  the  middle  of  the  summer. 

If  the  fall  feed  comes  in  well  and  is  abundant,  extra 
feeding  may  not  be  required  during  the  fall ;  but 
usually  some  succulent  food,  as  fodder  corn,  pump- 
kins, apples  or  roots,  will  be  required  to  keep  the  milk 
from  dropping  down  too  fast.  In  the  absence  of  any 
such  feed,  wheat  or  rye  bran  will  be  found  an  excel- 
lent substitute.  It  is  about  as  good  as  soiling  at  any 
time,  and  is  more  convenient  to  feed.  If  not  very 
much  dried  of  their  milk,  five  or  six  pounds  of  the 
bran  per  day  for  each  cow,  wet  and  thrown  on  to  some 
coarse  fodder,  will  make  a  pound  of  milk  or  over,  for 
every  pound  of  bran,  and  the  milk  will  more  than  pay 
the  cost  of  the  bran  and  labor  of  feeding.  Bran  is 
excellent  food  for  cows  at  any  time  when  extra  food 
is  required.  We  have  generally  been  able  to  get  from 
it  more  milk  than  from  an  equal  cost  of  any  other 
ground  feed.  It  is  better  suited  to  warm  weather  than 
meal.  As  the  weather  becomes  cool,  if  cows  are  at  all 
thin,  meal  may  be  profitably  added.  At  any  rate  feed 
enough  of  some  kind  should  be  given  to  keep  up  botl.' 
milk  and  strength  all  the  fall.  One  of  the  worst 
errors  a  dairyman  ever  commits,  is  to  let  a  cow  go 
into  winter  quarters  drooping. 

If  the  herd  has  been  properly  cared  for  while  gra- 
zing, the  flow  of  milk  will  be  considerable  upon  com- 


76  American  Dairying. 

ing  to  the  stable  for  winter  quarters,  and  it  is  advisable 
to  keep  it  up  as  well  as  possible.     The  idea  conveyed 
by  the  phrases,  ''a  cow  is  a  cow,"  and  "it  costs  as 
much  to  keep  a  poor  cow  as  it  does  a  good  one,"  is 
now  discarded  by  intelligent  dairymen.     A  good  cow 
needs  more  food  than  a  poor  one,  and  the  more  milk 
she  gives,  the  more  food  she  requires.     But  it  will  not 
pay  the  farmer,  who  is  short  of  fodder,  to  dry  up  his 
cows  early  to  save  keeping.     He  will  lose  money  in 
the  end  by  doing  so.     A  cow  that  is  coming  in  the 
first  of  April  maybe  milked  till  the  first  of  February, 
if  she  is  well  kept.     At  the  ordinary  prices  of  keeping 
and  of  butter,  she  will  make  butter  enough  from  the 
beginning  of  foddering  to  the  first  of  February,  to 
pay  the  whole  cost  of  wintering,  with  the  cost  of  all 
the  extra  feed  counted  in,  and  she  will  lose  nothing 
in  flesh  or  vigor  by  doing  so.     If  the  supply  of  food 
is  insufficient,  milking  so  late  would  be  detrimental^ 
as  it  would  tend  to  debilitate  the  cow.     It  pays  best  to 
feed  and  milk  liberally.     Hay  alone,  especially  if  cut 
after  it  is  in  blossom,  will  not  be  sufficient.     When 
not  in  milk,  a  cow  can  get  along  well  on  good  hay 
alone ;  but  she  cannot  eat  and  digest  enough  to  sup- 
port herself  and  keep  up  a  good  yield  of  milk — either 
her  flesh  or  her  milk  will  fail.    Some  richer  feed  should 
be  mixed  with  it.     But  if  hay  is  cut  early,  before  it  is 
in  bloom,  and  well  cured,  it  will  do  well  alone.     The 
difference  between  early  hay  and  late  cut   hay,  is  not 
generally  appreciated.    The  later  hay  is  cut,  the  less  is 
the  per  centage  of  flesh  forming  elements,  the  lighter 
colored  its  butter,  and  the  more  slowly  does  it  digest. 
Grass  cut  a  week  before  it  is   in   blossom,  and  grass 
cut  a  week  after  it  is  out  of  blossom,  are  very  different 
for  feeding  purposes.     The  later  cut  hay  will  contain 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  yy 

about  40  pounds  in  a  hundred  that  will  be  made  avail- 
able for  food,  the  fatty  matter  will  be  pale,  and  it  will 
take  six  hours  to  digest  a  meal  of  it.  The  early  cut 
hay,  on  the  other  hand,  will  contain  about  55  pounds 
of  available  matter  in  every  100  pounds  weight,  which 
will  be  in  better  proportion  and  better  color,  and  will 
digest  in  four  hours  as  well  as  the  other  will  in  six. 
Horses  and  mules  digest  late  cut  hay  very  well, 
especially  the  mules  ;  but,  if  eaten  in  a  dry  state,  it  is 
not  well  adapted  to  the  bovine  stomach,  and  they  fail 
to  digest  it  thoroughly.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  cattle  will  live  and  maintain  themselves  on  a 
smaller  amount  of  nutriment  when  given  in  green 
food,  which  is  easy  to  digest,  than  they  can  if  given 
in  dry  hay  well  matured. 

The  foUowins:  extract  from  the  address  of  Dr. 
James  Law,  of  Cornell  University,  delivered  before 
the  American  Dairymen's  Association,  in  January, 
1870,  is  in  point : 

"A  bullock  maybe  kept  in  fair  condition  on  120 
pounds  of  turnips  daily,  but  could  not  be  so  sup- 
ported on  eight  or  nine  pounds  of  Timothy  hay, 
though,  as  judged  by  their  relative  amounts  of  proxi- 
mate principles,  their- nutritive  value  should  be  nearly 
the  same.  Again,  cattle  which  are  fed  in  Scotland  on 
turnips  and  uncut  wheat  or  oat  straw,  occasionally 
make  as  much  as  two  pounds  increase  of  weight  daily, 
on  a  diet  of  180  pounds  Swedish  turnips  and  five 
pounds  of  straw  per  day,  yet  no  one  would  expect 
this  daily  increase  on  a  diet  of  20  pounds  of  hay  per 
diem,  which  would  be  a  fair  nutritive  equivalent,  as 
judged  by  its  chemical  constituents,  and,  moreover,  is 
greatly  superior  to  it  in  tliose  fat  producing  principles 
which  are  especially  required  in  the  feeding  ox.     The 


J 8  American  Dairying. 

difference  in  result  is  unquestionably  due  to  the  abun- 
dance of  water  in  the  turnips  in  intimate  union  with 
their  nutritive  constituents,  and  which  renders  them 
more  easily  assimilated.  The  plentiful  supply  of 
liquid  to  the  blood  and  tissues  not  only. favors  the 
destructive  and  reparatory  changes  in  those,  but  main- 
tains in  full  activity  the  various  secreting  organs, 
counteracting  costiveness,  suppressed,  concentrated 
and  irritating  urine,  inspissated  bile,  and  the  like. 
The  same  result  follows  in  all  cases  when  this  finely 
divided  and  watery  food  is  supplied  ;  and  however  the 
condition  may  have  been  brought  about,  whether  by 
cooking,  macerating,  germinating,  or  otherwise,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  progress  made  in  growth,  in 
fattening,  or  in  the  yield  of  milk,  testifies  to  the 
enhanced  value  of  food  in  this  particular  condition." 

Dairymen  in  the  older  dairy  districts,  are  every  year 
cutting  their  food  for  winter  a  little  earlier.  In  cen- 
tral New  York,  hay  is  cut  twenty  days  earlier  than  it 
was  twenty  years  ago. 

But  the  reader  is  probably  ready  to  ask,  if  it  is  ad- 
visable to  milk  cows  up  to  within  eight  or  ten  weeks 
of  coming  in  again,  and  common  hay  is  not  good 
enough  to  keep  them  on  without  extra  feed  in  some 
form,  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  coarse  fodder,  corn- 
stalks, straw,  &c.?  Must  it  be  thrown  away  ?  All  the 
fodder  that  is  grown  on  the  farm  can  be  profitably  fed 
to  the  dairy  if  properly  used.  Before  speaking  of  its 
use,  however,  a  word  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  pur- 
poses of  food  may  not  be  amiss. 

The  food  of  animals  is  not  one  homogeneous  mass 
or  single  composition.  It  is  composed  of  several  dis- 
tinct parts,  each  of  which  performs  a  distinct  part  of 
the  economy  of  life,  and  cannot  be  substituted  for  any 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  7p 

other.     One  kind  of  food,  having  a  definite  composi- 
tion, builds  up  flesh  and  restores  its  waste,  and  exists 
in  several  different  forms,  and  is  known  under  differ- 
ent   names,  as   albumen,   fibrin,  caseine,  gluten,  &c. 
They  are  all  included  under,  and  are  designated  by 
the  terms,  albuminoids,  or  flesh-forming  food.     An- 
other kind  supplies  the  material  from  which  are  gen- 
erated animal  heat  and  force.     This  kind  of  food  is 
made  up  of  fats  and  oils,  starch,  gum,  sugar,  &c.,  and 
are  called  supporters  of  respiration,  or  heat-producing 
food:     Besides  these,  water  and  certain  minerals,  as 
soda,  lime,  phosphorus,  iron,  &c.,  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  the  bodies  of  animals,  the  latter  chiefly  to 
build  up  the  bones.     As  the  minerals,  excepting  salt, 
are  usually  in  sufficient  supply  in  all  kinds  of  food 
they  need  not  be  considered  here.     What  we  wish  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to,  is  the  fact  that  the 
albuminoids  and  heat-producing  foods  must  sustain 
certain  relations  to  each  other,  and  be  supplied  in  cer- 
tain relative  proportions  according  to  the  condition 
and  circumstances  of  the  animals.     If  a  cow  is  not  in 
milk  she  may  not  need  any  more  albuminoids  in  cold 
than  in  warm  weather;  but  she  would  need  more  heat- 
producing  food  to  keep  her  warm.    In  the  summer,  for 
every  pound  of  flesh-forming  food  she  uses,  she  will 
require  three  pounds  of  heat-producing  food,  and  in 
the  winter,  five  or  six  pounds;  a  cow  can  live  well  on 
food  in  such  proportions  if  she  is  doing  nothing  but 
living.     Twenty-five  pounds  of  hay  per  day  would 
give   her  two   pounds   of  flesh-forming  and   ten   or 
eleven  for  producing  heat,  and  this  would  supply  her 
necessities.     But  it  would  not  support  her  and  a  flow 
of  milk  too,  in  which  albuminoids  are  in  much  greater 
proportion  (two  to  five).    Hence  the  necessity  of  some 


So  American  Dairying. 

other  food  to  go  with  it  to  furnish  the  albuminoids  for 
the  milk.  A  few  pounds  of  meal,  or  bran,  or  early 
cut  hay,  or  oil-cake  (in  all  of  which  albuminoids 
largely  exist),  will  supply  just  what  is  needed. 

In  a  similar  way  we  can  use  the  corn  stalks  and 
straw.  In  corn  stalks,  for  example,  albuminoids  and 
supporters  of  respiration  are  as  i  to  13,  the  fori^ici- 
bein^  deficient ;  in  pea  and  bean  meal,  in  which  are 
about  25  pounds  of  the  former  to  50  pounds  of  the 
latter  in  a  hundred  weight,  we  have  the  means  of  bal- 
ancing the  elements  of  food  so  that  the  excess  of 
starch  and  sugar  in  one,  and  of  flesh-forming  ele- 
ments in  the  other,  shall  be  economized  to  the  best 
advantage,  nothing  being  lost.  Straw  may  be  made 
use  of  in  the  same  way.  The  flesh-forming  and  respi- 
rative  elements  of  food  in  it  are  in  the  relation  of 
about  I  to  15,  supposing  the  grain  to  be  ripe  when 
the  straw  is  cut.  Diff"erent  kinds  of  straw^,  of  course, 
vary  in  value,  and  the  value  of  each  will  vary  with 
the  time  of  cutting.  If  the  grain  is  in  the  dough 
stage  when  cut,  the  relation  of  the  two  kinds  of  food 
will  be  about  as  i  to  10.  Coarse  fodder  generally 
abounds  in  heat-producing*  food,  and  is  deficient  in 
flesh-forming  matter,  and  it  is  therefore  best  fed 
when  the  cows  are  hot  in  milk.  With  15  pounds  of 
straw  or  stalks  cut  and  wet,  a  few  pounds  of  bran  or 
meal  (say  4  pounds  of  bran  and  i  pound  of  pea  meal) 
mixed  with  it,  will  keep  a  common  sized  native  cow 
in  good  condition,  if  she  has  the  benefit  of  a  comfort- 
able stable.  Larger  cows,  and  those  that  are  exposed 
to  the  cold,  will  require  more.  With  a  little  more 
ground  feed  added,  this  same  diet  may  be  given  to 
cows  in  milk.  All  the  coarse  fodder  a  dairyman  has 
occasion  to  raise  may  thus  be  used  in  wintering  his 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock. 


8i 


stock,  and  at  a  less  cost,  the  fodder  and  grain  being 
counted  together,  than  he  can  winter  them  on  hay. 

We  copy  from  the  table  of  Wolff  &  Knop,  as  quoted 
by  S.  W.  Johnson,  the  nutritive  and  heat-producing 
values  of  some  of  the  different  kinds  of  winter  food 
in  common  use.  It  may  be  of  some  advantage  in 
adapting  the  different  values  to  each  other.  They  are 
arranged  in  the  order  of  their  flesh-forming  material  : 


Oil  Cake 

Bean  Meal 

Pea  Meal , 

Alsike  Clover  in  blossom, 
White  Clover  in  blossom. , 

Rye  Bean 

Lucern  in  blossom 

Wheat  Bran 

Red  Clover  in  blossom. . , 

Oats 

Orchard  Grass 

Rye  Meal 

Meadow  Fox  Tail 

Corn  Meal , 

Timothy  Hay 

Barley , 

Buckwheat 

Common  Hay 

Pea  Straw 

Corn  Stalks 

Barley  Straw . 

Oat  Straw 

Wheat  Straw 

Potatoes 

Ruta  Bagas 

Carrots 

Turnips ,. 

Beets  (Sugar) 


Albuminoids. 


28.3 

25-5 
22.4 

15-3 
14.9 

14-5 
I4.4 
14.0 

134 
12.0 
II. 6 

II. G 
10.6 

10. 0 
9-7 
9-5 
9.0 

8.2 

6.5 
3-0 
3-0 

2-5 

2. 

2. 

I. 

I. 

I. 

O. 


Starch, 
Sugar,  Gum, 


41.3 

45-5 
52.3 
29.2 

34-3 
53-5 
22.5 
50.0 
29.9 
60.9 
40.7 
69.2 

39-5 
68.0 
48.8 
66.6 
59-6 
41-3 
35-2 
39-0 
32.7 
38.2 
30.2 
21.0 

9-3 
10.8 

51 

15-4 


Fat. 


lO.O 
2.0 
2-5 

3-3 
3-5 
3-5 
2.5 
3.8 
3-2 
6.0 

2.7 
2.0 

2-5 
7.0 
30 

2-5 

2.5 

2.0 
2.0 
I.I 

1  4 
2.0 

15 
0.3 
0.1 
0.2 

O.I 
O.I 


As  a  part  of  the  heat-producing  food  must  be. fat,  it 
has  been  placed  in  a  separate  column. 

There  are  so  many  circumstances  that  vary  the 
quantity  of  fo'od  required  for  the  daily  use  of  a  cow, 


82  American  Dairying. 

that  no  precise  figures  can  be  set  down  as  represent- 
ing the  exact  amount  of  the  different  elements  neces- 
sary for  her  to  subsist  upon,  but  the  following  may  be 
regarded  as  approximatively  correct  for  a  cow  weigh- 
ing 800  pounds  when  not  in  milk.  Her  daily  food 
should  contain  at  least — albuminoids,  1%  pounds; 
starch,  sugar,  &c.,  8  to  10  pounds;  fat,  %  pound. 
With  a  large  flow  of  milk  the  albuminoids  would 
need  to  be  doubled,  the  starch,  &c.,  increased  one- 
half,  and  the  fat  doubled.  From  this  it  may  be  seen 
how  to  proportion  the  several  kinds  of  food  to  adapt 
them  to  each  other,  so  as  to  use  them  with  economy. 
If  the  food  is  to  be  used  dry,  an  allowance  of  one- 
fourth  should  be  made  for  imperfect  digestion.  If 
cooked  or  steamed  the  digestion  will  be  perfect  and 
the  whole  amount  may  be  counted.  This  amount  will 
be  required  for  cattle  provided  with  warm  and  com- 
fortable stables  and  kindly  cared  for.  If  they  have  no 
other  protection  than  an  open  yard  or  shed,  one-half 
more  should  be  added  to  the  quantity  named.  This 
may  seem  a  large  allowance,  but  experiments  made  at 
the  barn  of  the  writer,  and  tested  by  actual  weights, 
have  demonstrated  this  difference  between  comfort 
and  exposure,  and  the  experience  of  hundreds  of 
others  have  corroborated  it. 

In  the  early  settlement  of  the  western  world,  barns 
were  built  everywhere  by  siding  up  a  frame  with 
boards  not  fully  seasoned,  which  shrank  in  course  of 
time,  leaving  cracks  between  them  half  an  inch  or 
more  wide.  It  was  customary  to  arrange  stables  for 
the  cows  on  one  side  of  the  barn,  wnth  their  heads 
pointing  toward  the  floor  in  the  centre,  the  side  next 
the  floor  not  being  boarded  except  at  the  bottom,  to 
make  a  manger.    The  air  streaming  through  the  cracks 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  8j 

in  the  side  of  the  barn,  carried  the  air  warmed  by  the 
heat  radiating  from  the  bodies  of  the  cattle,  past  their 
heads  into  the  middle  of  the  barn,  and  rising  up,  it 
went  out  throusfh  the  cracks  above.  The  cows  were 
kept  in  a  current  of  cold  air  but  little  different  from 
being  out  of  doors.  As  these  primitive  barns  have 
been  replaced  by  new  ones  with  sides  boarded  with 
matched  stuff,  and  with  the  exception  of  means  for 
ventilation,  the  stables  tightly  boarded  all  round,  so 
as  to  save  all  the  warmth  given  off  from  the  animals, 
it  has  been  the  uniform  testimony  of  each  farmer,  as 
he  placed  his  cows  in  his  new  and  warm  stables,  that 
he  required  but  two-thirds  of  the  hay  to  keep  his  cows 
that  he  did  before.  Among  the  numerous  farmers  we 
have  heard  speak  of  their  experience  with  such  barns, 
there  never  has  been  any  less  estimate  of  the  saving 
of  food  effected.  I  commend  their  experience  to  the 
consideration  of  the  reader,  and  submit  whether  the 
first  item  in  the  economy  of  winter  food  for  the  dairy, 
is  not  the  comfortable  housing  of  the  herd  ? 

Supposing  the  cows  to  have  been  so  well  provided 
for  as  to  have  arrived  near  the  milking  season  with 
flesh  and  strength  unabated,  preparation  for  spring 
may  be  entered  upon  by  a  moderate  increase  of  feed, 
two  or  three  weeks  before  the  cows  are  expected  to 
^•' come  in."  This  is  necessary  to  increase  their  vigor 
to  sustain  them  in  the  severity  of  approaching  labor, 
and  supply  the  rapid  growth  of  the  foetus.  Some 
kind  of  grain  should  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Corn 
is  often  used,  but  any  other  of  the  cereals  is  better. 
Corn  is  a  little  too  heating  for  this  period.  Some 
food  richer  in  albuminoids  should  be  used,  a  mixture 
of  different  kinds  of  grain  in  which  oats  form  a  prom- 
inent item,  has  proved  very  satisfactory  in  the  author's 


S.f.  American  Dairying. 

experience.  But  nothing  fed  at  this  critical  season  of 
the  year  has  ever  proved  so  efficient  in  good  results  as 
green  and  succulent  food — beets,  turnips,  potatoes,  car- 
rots, apples,  cabbage,  ruta-bagas,  &c.,  all  of  which 
have  seemed  to  serve  the  same  purpose.  They  im- 
prove the  general  health  of  the  animal,  they  are 
easily  digested  and  assimilated,  they  increase  the 
volume  of  the  blood,  making  it  thinner,  and  its  circu- 
lation into  the  minute  vessels  more  complete  and  even, 
and  thereby  aid  most  effectually  in  the  relaxation  of 
tissues  and  expansion  of  parts  so  necessary  at  this 
particular  time.  Where  roots  have  been  given  two  or 
three  weeks  in  advance,  labor  has  been  easier  and 
sooner  recovered  from,  and  the  flow  of  milk  has  been 
larger  than  when  they  have  not  been  used.  Whether 
it  will  pay  to  raise  roots  to  feed  through  the  entire 
winter  as  a  substitute  for  hay,  may  be  a  question,  but 
that  they  contribute  to  the  general  health  of  the  ani- 
mals at  any  time  when  fed  in  reasonable  quantities,  is 
not  doubted.  Though  good  at  any  time,  they  have  a 
special  utility  in  the  spring.  They  not  only  prepare 
the  cow  for  an  easier  labor,  but  they  prepare  the  whole 
system  for  an  easy  and  gradual  change  from  foddering 
to  grazing,  so  that  no  shock  is  felt.  They  cleanse  the 
blood,  and  put  the  milk-glands  not  only,  but  the  entire 
glandular  system,  in  perfect  working  order,  and  thus 
extend  their  influence  through  the  whole  summer. 
When  cows  come  in  during  the  foddering  season,  there 
is  nothing  that  will  so  well  prepare  them  for  a  bounti- 
ful return  during  the  whole  remaining  period  of  lac- 
tation, as  a  moderate  use  of  green  food  while  the 
foddering  lasts.  For  feeding  at  such  a  time,  it  pays 
its  cost  many  times  over,  let  the  question  of  profit  at 
other  times  be  answered  as  it  mav. 


Food  for  Dairy  Stock.  8^ 

In  the  early  part  of  the  season  the  active  state  of 
the  milk-glands  will  enable  a  cow  to  carry  off  in  her 
milk  all  the  nutriment  she  can  digest  above  what  she 
can  assimilate.  If  there  is  any  profit  in  milking  at 
this  season,  it  is  in  making  her  digest  all  she  can.  To 
this  end  she  should  not  only  be  supplied  with  all  she 
can  eat  of  food  rich  in  the  elements  of  milk,  but  her 
dry  food  should  be  selected  from  such  materials  as 
will  digest  most  easily  and  rapidly.  The  propriety 
of  providing  early  cut  hay  for  feeding  at  this  time, 
will  suggest  itself,  as  its  easy  digestion  and  its  richer 
and  better  nutrition,  have  already  been  explained,  and 
need  not  be  dwelt  upon  now.  Of  course  no  skillful 
feeder  will  select  late  cut  hay,  or  ripe  stalks,  or  straw, 
for  cows  in  milk  in  the  spring.  But  sometimes  neces- 
sity compels  their  use.  Though  not  the  most  profit- 
able food,  they  may  serve  a  valuable  purpose  to  carry 
a  herd  along  to  grass,  and  if  skillfully  compounded 
with  meal,  will  give  fair  results. 


86  American  Dairying, 


CONDITION  OF  FOOD  FOR  BOVINE  DIGES- 
TION. 


The  condition  in  which  food  is  offered  to  dairy 
stock  is  sometimes  a  matter  of  no  little  importance. 
This  remark  will  indeed  apply  to  all  stock,  but  from 
the  peculiar  construction  of  their  digestive  apparatus, 
it  often  has  a  special  significance  with  respect  to 
ruminants.  The  digestive  apparatus  of  ruminants  is 
peculiar,  and  food  is  handled  by  it  in  a  different  way 
from  what  it  is  in  the  stomachs  of  non-ruminants,  and 
for  that  reason  ruminants  may  be  affected  by  the  con- 
dition of  food  where  non-ruminants  would  not  be. 
A  brief  statement  of  the  bovine  stomach,  will  help  to 
understand  how  it  acts  upon  the  food  received,  and 
how  food  affects  it. 

The  cow  and  other  ruminants  have  a  compound 
stomach  containing  four  apartments.  When  coarse 
food,  like  grass,  is  eaten,  it  is  only  partially  masticated 
at  first,  and,  upon  being  swallowed  it  is  passed  into 
the  first  stomach  or  paunch.  This  is  the  largest  divi- 
sion and  is  about  equal  to  the  other  three.  It  serves 
as  a  receptacle  to  hold  the  coarse  half-ground  food, 
till  the  animal  has  leisure  to  remasticate.  From  the 
first  stomach,  it  is  gradually  worked  into  the  second, 
which  is  only  an  appendage  of  the  first,  lying  close  to 
the  esophagus,  and  separated  from  the  main  part  of 
the  paunch  by  a  partial  diaphragm  in  the  inside  of  the 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.         8y 

paunch  that  reaches  in  only  a  little  way,  and  makes 
only  a  partial  separation  between  the  two  divisions. 
From  the  outside  appearance  one  would  hardly  sus- 
pect the  second  stomach  to  be  a  distinct  division  of 
the  first.  In  the  second  division,  the  food  is  rolled 
into  pellets,  and  by  a  spasmodic  motion  thrown  back 
to  the  mouth.  When  remasticated,  instead  of  going 
into  the  first  stomach,  as  it  did  at  first,  it  now  goes  in- 
to the  third,  or  manifold,  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 
This  is  a  nearly  round  body  attached  to  the  branching 
termination  of  the  esophagus.  It  passes  directly  from 
the  third  into  the  fourth  stomach,  and  the  work  of 
digestion  is  so  far  advanced  that  the  labor  of  this 
division  is  quickly  and  perfectly  performed.  The 
fourth  stomach  is  designed  to  receive  food  only  in  the 
plastic  condition  it  assumes  in  passing  through  the 
other  three  divisions,  with  the  added  influence  of  re- 
mastication.  It  is  not  calculated  to  take  in,  like  the  first 
stomach,  food  in  a  coarse,  fibrous  state,  unfermented, 
unsoftened,  and  unprepared  by  the  partial  digestion  of 
the  other  divisions.  The  food  of  the  entire  bovine 
race,  when  taken  in  its  natural  condition,  as  grown  in 
the  forest  or  the  field,  always  takes  the  course  here 
described.  The  lower  end  of  the  meat-pipe  branches 
out  at  its  connection  with  the  stomach,  so  that  it  can 
communicate  with  any  of  the  first  three  divisions ; 
and  to  aid  and  insure  the  passage  of  the  partially  mas- 
ticated food  into  the  proper  receptacle,  the  termina- 
tion of  the  meat-pipe  at  its  connection  with  the  first 
stomach  is  lined  with  papillae,  bent  like  card  teeth,  the 
action  of  which  helps  work  the  coarse  food  along  to 
the  place  it  should  go.  In  their  domesticated  state, 
cattle  do  not  always  take  their  food  in  the  coarse  con- 
dition in  which  their  digestive  apparatus  indicates  it 


88  American  Dairying. 

was  designed  to  be  received.  It  is  desirable  to  feed 
them  grain  and  other  feed  that  is  pulverized  ever^  finer 
than  their  remastication  would  make  it.  In  this  con- 
dition the  papillae  cannot  grasp  it  to  haul  it  along 
into  the  rumen,  and  through  a  passage  way  between  the 
ends  of  the  folds  in  the  third  stomach  it  passes  directly 
into  the  fourth.  Perhaps  the  will  of  the  animal  may 
have  something  to  do  with  the  direction  the  food 
takes.  But  certain  it  is  that  very  fine  food,  like  corn 
meal,  when  fed  alone,  goes  directly  into  the  fourth 
stomach,  missing  the  other  three,  and  the  preparation 
for  digestion  they  were  calculated  to  give  it.  This  I 
have  repeatedly  demonstrated,  as  any  one  else  may  do, 
by  feeding  meal  to  animals  that  were  to  be  slaughtered 
immediately,  and  searching  for  it  as  soon  as  the 
stomach  could  be  reached. 

There  maybe  some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  as  seems 
to  have  been  recently  demonstrated.  First,  when  the 
stomach  is  entirely  empty,  meal,  when  fed  alone,  may 
either  voluntarily  or  involuntarily  go  into  the  first 
stomach.  L.  W.  Miller,  of  Stockton,  N.  Y.,  after 
feeding  on  an  exclusive  meal  diet  for  a  week,  found 
the  meal,  apparently  a  mixture  of  each  feeding,  in  the 
first  and  fourth  stomachs,  but  the  great  bulk  of  it  in 
the  first.  Second,  A.  W.  Cheever,  of  the  New  England 
Farmer^  fed  a  beef  cow  meal  just  before  slaughtering, 
and  found  the  meal  all  snugly  stowed  in  the  first 
stomach  or  paunch,  where  only  coarse  food  usually 
goes.  Others  report  finding  meal  divided  when  taken 
alone,  a  part  of  it  going  into  the  first  and  a  part  dis- 
appearing in  the  third  division.  In  1858-9,  the  author 
made  a  dozen  or  more  experiments  in  feeding  meal 
and  other  food  with  various  degrees  of  fineness,  just 
before  slaughtering,  and  in  every  instance  found  the 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.         8() 

fine  food  in  the  fourth  stomach  and  the  coarse  food  in 
the  first.  In  some  instances  where  food  having  differ- 
ent degrees  of  fineness  was  swallowed  together,  a  sep- 
aration was  made,  the  coarse  going  into  the  first  and 
the  fine  passing  on  to  the  fourth.  For  instance,  when 
corn  in  the  ear  was  fed  to  yearlings,  the  pieces  of  cob 
and  corn,  down  to  a  certain  degree  of  fineness,  dropped 
into  the  paunch,  while  the  finer  masticated  part  went 
on  into  the  fourth.  When  an  ear  of  corn  was  wrapped 
w^ith  a  wisp  of  green  hay,  so  that  the  hay  and  corn 
were  ground  together,  the  meal  finely  masticated  ad- 
hered to  the  hay  and  all  went  into  the  paunch  to- 
gether. Feeding  corn  in  the  ear  worked  differently 
with  cattle  of  different  ages.  When  fed  to  cows  ten 
or  twelve  years  old  nearly  all  the  corn  passed  directly 
to  the  fourth  stomach,  only  the  whole  kernels  and 
large  fragments  stopping  in  the  first,  and  often  whole 
grains  passed  by  the  first  and  lodged  in  the  fourth. 
In  yearlings  and  two-year-olds,  a  much  finer  grade  of 
mastication  was  caught  in  the  rumen,  so  that  the  corn 
was  most  of  it  lodged  there. 

About  1862,  Prof  E.  W.  Stewart,  of  Lake  View,  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  the  experiments  just  related, 
for  they  had  not  then  been  published,  made  some  eight 
experiments  in  a  similar  way,  using  various  kinds  of 
finefood,withsimilar  results,  the  fine  food  in  every  case 
going  to  the  fourth  stomach,  and  showing  that,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  fine  food  is  not  deposited  in  the  rumen  when 
fed  alone.  How  numerous  the  exceptions  are,  must  be 
determined  by  further  observations,  and  also,  what 
causes  the  exceptions,  whether  they  are  controlled  by 
the  will  of  the  cow,  or  whether  in  individual  cases  the 
structure  of  the  digestive  apparatus,  by  reason  of  domes- 
tication, varies  so  that  without  any  special  effort  of  the 


go  AtHcricaji  Dairying. 

animal,  fine  food  in  one  case  passes  by  the  rumen  and 
in  another  drops  into  it.  And  equally  undetermined 
is  the  way  in  which  fine  food  passes  the  third  stomach, 
whether  the  manifolds  fail  to  take  up  food  comminu- 
ted to  a  certain  degree,  or  whether  by  an  effort  of 
the  will  it  passes  through  between  the  folds,  while 
their  action  is  suspended.  The  structure  of  the  third 
division  of  the  ruminants  is  so  constructed  that  it 
would  not,  from  inspection,  seem  probable  that  any- 
thing would  be  carried  directly  through  it,  but  certain 
it  is  that  food  does,  in  certain  cases,  go  direct  from 
the  mouth  to  the  true  or  fourth  stomach. 

The  ruminant  stomach  is  a  complex  organ  and  its 
action  is  so  complicated  as  to  be  difficult  to  trace  with 
exactness,  so  that  its  ways  are  not  well  known,  and 
hence  it  is  sometimes  found  doing  what  we  would  lit- 
tle suspect. 

From  the  peculiar  structure  of  their  stomachs  the 
ruminants'  mode  of  feeding  is  generally  different  from 
that  of  other  animals.  The  non-ruminant  herbivora 
take  their  food  slowly  and  grind  it  well,  because  they 
can  do  nothing  further  to  aid  digestion  after  it  is  swal- 
lowed. The  horse  for  instance,  requires  an  hour  to 
masticate  properly  five  pounds  of  hay.  A  cow  will 
eat  the  same  in  less  than  half  the  time  and  with  fewer 
strokes  of  the  jaw.  This  is  characteristic  of  rumi- 
nants generally. 

They  partially  grind  or  crush  their  food  and  swal- 
low it  into  a  receptacle  suited  to  such  food,  but  which 
could  be  dispensed  with  if  the  food  was  all  fine  when 
swallowed,  and  hence  the  inference  that  it  is  neither 
absolutely  necessary  nor  natural  for  food  already  fine 
to  go  there.  The  coarse  food  to  which  this  receptacle 
points  as  the  kind  on  which  the  cow  was  intended  to 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.         gi 

live,  is  more  difficult  of  digestion  than  food  more  con- 
centrated and  minutely  divided,  hence  special  pro- 
vision is  made  for  reducing  such  food.  From  the 
membranes  forming  the  receptacle  into  which  it  is  first 
received,  is  poured  a  fluid  slightly  acid,  and  charged 
with  a  yeast  which  produces  a  gentle  fermentation, 
which  is  the  beginning  of  digestion.  By  an  unequal 
but  regular  contraction  and  relaxation  of  fibers  in  the 
muscular  walls  of  the  reservoir,  the  whole  mass  is 
stirred  up,  kept  in  motion,  mixed,  warmed,  softened 
and  prepared  in  the  best  possible  manner  for  easy, 
rapid  and  perfect  mastication.  In  this  condition,  with 
digestion  begun,  it  goes  back  through  the  second 
stomach  to  the  mouth  to  finish  the  comminution  be- 
gun when  first  swallowed.  This  done,  it  goes  back 
into  the  stomach,  but  this  time  it  goes  into  another 
division  (3d  stomach)  filled  with  pendant  folds,  be- 
tween which  it  is  rubbed  and  triturated  and  pressed 
till  much  of  the  aliment  is  separated,  and  the  whole 
so  changed  that  when  it  passes  hence  to  the  fourth  or 
true  stomach,  the  work  of  stomach  digestion  is  much 
more  easily  and  perfectly  completed  than  it  would  be 
had  not  this  preparation  been  made  by  the  other  parts 
of  the  digestive  apparatus. 

While  this  compound  arrangement  of  stomachs  en- 
hances the  power  of  digestion  as  a  whole,  it  is  proba- 
ble, from  certain  physiological  reasons,  that  the  fourth 
stomach  is  not,  when  acting  alone,  as  powerful  as  the 
single  stomach  of  the  non-ruminants,  of  which  it  is  a 
proper  representation.  Though  the  appendages  to 
the  fourth  or  true  stomach  were  evidently  designed  for 
coarse  and  not  for  fine  food  like  meal,  yet  they  can 
be  made  available  for  facilitating  and  perfecting  the 
digestion  of  finely  ground  food.     It  has  been  already 


C)2  Aincrica)i  Dairying, 

remarked  that  when  meal  alone  is  fed  to  cows  it  goes, 
as  a  rule,  directly  to  the  fourth  stomach.  To  prevent 
this  and  ensure  its  passage  into  the  rumen,  wet  tlie 
coarse  food,  whether  cut  or  long,  and  mix  the  meal  with 
it.  It  is  better  to  cut  the  fodder,  but  it  may  be  used 
long.  By  adhering  to  the  wet  fodder  it  is  carried 
along  with  it  into  the  rumen.  The  feed  for  this  pur- 
pose should  be  ground  as  fine  as  possible. 

When  it  is  desired  to  feed  largely  with  ground  feed 
there  is  quite  an  advantage  in  feeding  in  this  way. 
The  meal  digests  the  easier  for  the  preparation  it  has 
received  in  the  rumen,  and  consequently  more  can  be 
digested  in  a  given  time.  In  feeding  cows  for  milk  it 
is  desirable  to  induce  the  largest  digestion  possible,  as 
the  more  food  used  the  more  milk.  There  is  a  limit 
to  profitable  meal  feeding,  and  this  limit  is  readily  de- 
termined by  the  effect  upon  the  health.  When  more 
is  fed  than  can  be  digested  the  indigested  meal  will 
produce  scouring,  but  so  long  as  it  is  perfectly  digested 
no  such  result  will  occur.  A  short  trial  will  show  that 
more  ground  feed  can  he  given  without  producing 
scouring,  by  mixing  the  feed  with  some  coarse  fodder, 
than  w^ien  it  is  fed  alone.  If  the  quantity  of  fine  food 
to  be  fed  is  small,  the  difference  will  not  be  very 
marked.  A  good  way  to  feed  meal  is  to  mix  it  with 
sliced  or  pulped  roots.  Such  has  been  the  author's 
experience  in  meal  feeding. 

The  same  reasons  which  have  just  been  used  apply 
to  cooking  food  to  hasten  digestion.  All  food  which 
digests  slowly  or  imperfectly  is  benefited  by  being 
cooked  or  steamed.  More  food  will  be  consumed  in 
a  given  time  and  more  nutriment  obtained,  and  hence 
the  more  milk,  or  the  more  flesh  and  fat,  will  come 
from  it. 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.         pj 

Rapid  and  perfect  digestion  are  all  important  in 
feeding  cows  in  milk.  No  animal  can  fatten  rapidly 
or  give  much  milk  on  food  which  the  stomach  has  to 
labor  with  long  and  hard.  To  illustrate  :  straw  and 
roots  are  quite  similar  in  the  proportions  of  their  nu- 
triment, but  a  pound  of  straw  contains  more  than  twice 
as  much  as  a  pound  of  roots.  A  cow  can  barely 
digest  straw  enough  to  keep  the  wheels  of  life  going 
at  a  slow  rate.  She  could  neither  fatten  if  she  was 
dry,  nor  give  milk  without  growing  poor.  But  be- 
cause she  can  digest  ten  times  as  many  pounds  of 
roots  as  she  can  straw,  she  can  consume  enough  to 
support  herself  and  have  a  surplus  left  for  producing 
fat  or  milk. 

Unless  it  is  cooked  it  does  not  pay  to  feed  straw,  or 
other  late  cut  feed,  to  cows  in  milk,  because  they  can- 
not consume  enough  of  it  to  allow  of  any  profit,  and 
the  slow  and  imperfect  manner  in  which  common  hay 
digests,  is  an  objection  to  using  it  to  the  extent  many 
dairymen  do  as  the  main  food  for  the  dairy.  It  is 
often  a  boast  that  cows  have  all  the  hay  they  can  eat. 
but  it  is  a  boast  which  does  not  speak  well  for  the 
largest  returns.  Hay  will  not  allow  of  the  best  results 
in  milk  production.  Dried  grass  will  do  very  well ; 
but  common  hay  would  require  an  amount  burthen- 
some  for  a  cow  to  carry,  an  amount  beyond  the  ca- 
pacity of  her  stomach,  to  yield  the  material  for  a  good 
flow  of  milk  without  drawing  on  her  store  of  flesh  to 
produce  it.  The  more  I  study  the  food  of  milch  cows, 
the  more  am  I  inclined  to  limit  the  quantity  of  hay 
to  the  smallest  amount  which  will  afford  a  comfortable 
distention  of  the  stomach,  and  make  up  the  rest  of  the 
ration  with  food  richer  and  more  rapidly  digested.  It 
is  the  best  way  to  get  large  and  paying  returns. 


p^  American  Dairying. 

Green  and  succulent  food  is  best  for  milch  cows, 
but  the  succulence  of  food  should  not  be  in  excess. 
Food  containing  more  than  about  70  per  cent,  of  water, 
will  produce  more  milk  by  evaporating  the  water  in 
excess  of  that  quantity.  Green  fodder  corn,  for  in- 
stance, which  contains  from  80  to  85  per  cent,  of  water, 
will  produce  more  milk  by  evaporating  10  to  15  per 
cent,  of  its  moisture.  Another  item  to  regard  in  the 
selection  of  food  for  milk  production,  is  that  the 
digestible  elements  of  the  food  should  contain  flesh- 
forming  and  respiratory  matter  in  the  same  relative 
proportions,  or  as  near  as  may  be,  as  they  exist  in  milk. 
If  there  is  an  excess  of  either,  it  will  be  fed  at  a  loss; 
if  a  deficiency  of  either,  the  quantity  will  diminish. 
Where  proper  proportions  do  not  exist  they  may  be 
regulated  by  mixing  different  feeds.  Thus  fodder 
corn  has  an  excess  of  respiratory  matter ;  clover  of 
flesh  forming;  by  mixing  the  two  both  are  fed  more 
profitably.  In  grasses  these  elements  are  pretty  well 
balanced,  so  they  are  in  wheat  and  rye  bran  and  various 
other  foods.  So  far  as  milk  is  concerned,  an  excess 
of  albuminoids  occasions  less  loss  than  an  excess  of 
starch,  sugar,  and  fat,  and  a  deficiency  of  albuminoids 
will  also  occasion  the  greater  loss.  The  quantity  of 
milk  varies  pretty  nearly  with  the  supply  of  flesh  pro- 
ducing food  when  other  circumstances  are  equal. 

Water  is  an  important  article  in  the  diet  of  any  kind 
of  stock.  If  possible,  it  is  more  so  with  dairy  stock 
than  with  any  other  kind.  It  constitutes  not  only 
about  70  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the  entire  body, 
l.ut  87  per  cent,  of  the  milk  secretions.  To  supply  so 
large  an  amount  of  water  to  the  constantly  wasting 
tissues  and  for  the  composition  of  milk,  requires  free 
access  to  it  in  abundance,  at  all  times,  or  at  compara- 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.         pj 

tively  short  intervals.  In  the  pasture  it  is  not  enough 
that  there  is  a  sluggish  pond  or  a  ditch  of  brackish 
water,  nor  that  a  supply  may  be  had  if  the  animal 
travels  a  long  distance  to  reach  it.  The  quality  of  the 
water  affects  the  health  of  the  cow  and  the  whole- 
someness  of  her  milk  secretions.  Many  impurities 
will  at  once  show  their  presence  in  the  diseased  con- 
dition of  the  cow  and  in  the  deteriorated  quality  of 
her  flow  of  milk.  There  are  many  organic  germs, 
that  enter  into  the  circulation  of  the  blood  from  bad 
water  and  appear  in  the  milk  secretions,  ready  to  pro- 
pagate their  kind  whenever  the  conditions  are  favor- 
able. Whoever  partakes  of  the  milk  introduces  these 
germs  into  his  or  her  system,  where  the  conditions 
may  be  favorable  for  their  growth,  and  their  multi- 
plication may  produce  disease  of  a  more  or  less 
positive  form,  often  resulting  in  severe  if  not  fatal 
fevers.  These  same  germs  have  a  similar  effect  in 
the  system  of  the  cow.  So  it  is  important,  not  only 
that  the  supply  of  water  should  be  abundant,  but  that 
it  should  be  pure— that  is,  as  pure  as  clean  spring  or 
brook  water,  and  fit  for  the  use  of  man  as  well  as  of 
beast.  And  the  accessibility  of  water  is  of  no  small 
degree  of  importance.  Cattle  will  travel  long  dis- 
tances to  get  it,  before  they  will  die  of  thirst,  but  they 
will  often  delay  the  journey  and  get  excessively  thirsty 
before  performing  it ;  in  consequence,  when  they 
reach  the  water,  they  injure  themselves  by  an  excessive 
draught,  drinking  until  they  feel  not  only  uncomfort- 
able but  actually  suffer  for  some  time,  from  a  slow 
fever.  This  will  always  happen  where  the  water  is 
not  only  at  the  back  end  of  the  pasture,  but  at  the 
back  end  of  a  large  piece  of  woods,  which  contains 
little  for  them   to  eat,   and  through  which  and  back 


L}6  American  Dairying. 

again  they  must  make  a  special  journey  every  time 
they  drink.  If  the  water  is  bad  when  they  do  reach 
it,  then  the  injurious  effects  are  doubly  aggravated. 
In  Avinter,  cattle  do  not  suffer  so  much  from  thirst 
but  they  need  to  drink  scarcely  less,  if  they  are 
kept  exclusively  on  dry  feed.  The  purity  of  the 
water  is  also  a  matter  of  importance  in  winter,  and 
it  should  not  only  be  abundant,  but  easily  accessible, 
for  cattle  will  get  very  thirsty  before  they  will  go 
a  long  distance,  on  a  cold,  stormy  or  windy  day,  to  get 
drink.  Provision  should  be  made  for  the  weaker  ani- 
mals— that  is,  the  conveniences  for  getting  water 
should  be  such  that  the  weaker  animals  will  not  be 
kept  long  waiting,  and  possibly  deprived  altogether 
of  drink.  On  a  severe  day,  they  will  soon  give  up  in 
despair  and  return  to  the  stable,  even  though  very 
thirsty,  without  drinking.  Such  an  occurrence  should 
be  carefully  guarded  against.  If  they  are  long  kept 
waiting,  they  get  badly  chilled,  and  if  the  water  they 
drink  is  ice  cold,  the  shock  to  the  system  is  severe  and 
either  makes  them  sick  or  costs  an  extra  amount  of 
food  to  supply  the  consumption  of  tissue  in  heating 
up.  Cows  giving  milk,  if  thus  chilled,  will  shrink 
largely  in  their  yield;  indeed,  even  a  slight  chill, 
such  as  caused  by  leaving  the  stable  and  going  to  a 
trough  in  the  barnyard  to  drink,  has  been  observed  to 
make  a  sensible  shrinkage  in  the  mess  of  milk.  It 
will  pay,  both  in  the  increased  comfort  and  health  of 
the  cow,  and  in  the  lessened  consumption  of  food  and 
augmented  flow  of  milk,  to  make  provision  for  water- 
ing milch  cows  in  winter,  without  chilling  them,  and  if 
the  water  which  they  drink  can  be  tempered  to  60  or 
70  degrees,  it  will  be  an  advantage.  Of  course,  every 
dairyman    must    be    governed    by    circumstances    in 


Condition  of  Food  for  Bovine  Digestion.        p/ 

regard  to  water,  as  in  other  matters,  but  if  he  cannot 
provide  all  the  best  facilities  and  conditions  for  water- 
ing his  stock,  his  aim  should  be  to  approximate  them 
as  nearly  as  possible  by  every  reasonable  care  and 
expense  of  time  and  money.  Often,  only  a  little 
foresight  and  energy  is  all  that  will  be  needed  to  pro- 
vide every  requisite.  As  an  illustration  of  the  im- 
portance of  having  water  accessible  in  summer  and 
of  the  effect  of  inaccessibility  on  the  flow  of  milk,  I 
will  give  a  fact  in  my  own  experience.  When  I  lived 
in  Herkimer  county,  my  cows  ran  in  a  pasture  which 
usually  had  a  good  supply  of  water  on  the  hill  or 
plateau  on  w^hich  they  did  most  of  their  grazing. 
Occasionally  this  water  would  dry  up  for  a  while,  and 
the  cows  be  compelled  to  make  an  extra  journey  of 
60  or  80  rods,  into  a  deep  gully  to  get  drink.  On 
every  such  occasion  I  at  once  noticed  a  shrinkage  of 
fully  ten  per  cent,  in  their  flow  of  milk,  besides  a 
marked  deterioration  in  quality. 


gS  American  Dairying. 


THE  DAIRY  BARN. 


A  dairy  barn  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  be  con- 
venient for  the  herdsman,  saving  time  and  labor  in 
the  care  of  stock  ;  it  should  provide  for  the  comfort 
and  health  of  the  herd ;  it  should  afford  ample  space 
for  storing  provender ;  it  should  be  a  comfortable, 
convenient  and  cleanly  milking  barn  ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  it  should  be  conveniently  arranged  for  disposing 
of  and  protecting  the  manure. 

These  points  have  been  well  provided  for  in  the  plan 
here  illustrated,  taken  from  the  barn  of  Peter  Mulks, 
of  Slaterville,  N.  Y.  It  is  designed  for  the  entire 
stock  of  cattle  and  horses,  and  for  the  hay  and  grain 
of  a  farm  of  200  acres. 

It  is  96  feet  long  by  38  feet  wide  with  25  feet  posts, 
and  has  a  wing  80x40,  used  as  a  grain  barn,  carriage 
house,  and  stables  for  horses. 

The  main  part  of  the  building,  which  is  designed 
for  the  dairy,  is  what  we  wish  more  particularly  to 
call  attention  to. 

This  is  located  upon  a  moderate  slope,  the  side  and 
one  end  resting  upon  mason  work.  The  building 
stands  with  the  longest  dimensions  east  and  west,  with 
the  west  and  front  end,  through  which  it  is  generally 
entered,  facing  the  highway.  Under  the  east  end  is  an 
excavation  extending  under  the  building  24  feet  and 
walled  up  on  three  sides,  the  east  end  being  left  open. 
It  forms  a  space  24  feet  long  by  38  wide  and  10  or  12 


The  Dairy  Barn. 


99 


feet  deep,  which  is  used  as  a  manure  shed.  Under  the 
remainder  of  the  building  the  ground  is  levelled  up 
with  gravelly  loam  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  so  that  the 

mm 


li 

i^Pliliiliiiiililll:ifi:ill«' 

main  floor,  A,  in  the  centre,  lies  flat  upon  the  ground 
instead  of  on  timbers  as  is  usual.  The  original  design 
embraces  a  root  cellar  under  a  part  of  this  floor. 


roo  American  Dairying. 

The  internal  arrangements  will  be  understood  by 
referring  to  the  ground  plan.  The  stables  occupy  72 
feet  of  the  front  end  of  the  barn,  and  are  located  on 
each  side  of  the  main  floor,  with  the  heads  of  the  cows 
facing  each  other.  Behind  them  is  a  floor,  B  B,  five 
feet  wide  with  an  inclination  of  two  inches  toAvard 
the  cows.  Next  to  this  is  a  gutter  10  inches  wide  and 
4  deep,  made  of  2  inch  plank,  very  firm  and  tight. 
Next  to  this  is  the  space,  D  D,  on  which  the  cows 
stand,  sloping  two  inches  toward  the  gutter.  This 
space  of  4  feet  and  4  inches  from  the  gutter  to  the  bed 
piece  which  holds  the  stanchion,  has  no  floor.  The 
cows  stand  on  a  bed  of  gravelly  loam,  which  has  been 
pounded  down  and  made  firm  and  smooth.  Mr.  Mulks 
regards  this  as  much  better  and  more  comfortable  for 
the  cattle  than  a  wooden  floor. 

The  stanchions  allow  three  feet  to  each  cow.  They 
are  built  in  the  usual  way  except  the  mode  of  fastening, 
which  is  very  simple  and  safe.  This  fastening  consists 
simply  of  a  loop  of  three-eighths  round  iron,  wide 
enough  to  let  the  ends  of  the  upright  pieces  pass 
through  it  readily,  and  just  long  enough  to  drop  over 
the  movable  upright  and  hold  it  in  its  place,  the  other 
end  being  dropped  into  a  slot  in  the  permanent  up- 
right, where  it  is  made  fast  by  filling  up  the  slot  after 
the  loop  has  been  dropped  in.  (See  section  of  stan- 
chion illustrated  in  the  wing  of  the  ground  plan.) 
The  upper  end  of  the  movable  upright  is  made  slant- 
ing, so  that  the  end  of  the  loop  slides  upon  it  and  falls 
astride  of  it  when  it  gets  to  its  place.  Though  in  use 
several  years,  a  cow  has  never  been  known  to  get  loose 
from  this  fastening.  It  is  impossible  for  one  to  do  so, 
because  the  loop  lies  flat  on  the  top  of  the  horizontal 
piece  which  holds  the    uprights,  and    a  cow  cannot 


TJie  Dairy  Barn. 


lOI 


possibly  reach  it.  I  have  used  loops  made  of  No.  6 
iron  wire,  in  the  same  way,  which  have  proved  per- 
fectly safe  and  satisfactory. 


f 


I  I    I    I   I    I    1  ■  I   I    I   I   Inl   I   I   1    I  TTTTTT 


I  I   i   I  I   I   M  I   I   I   I'nl  I   M   I   I  LLLLL 


\ 


The  mangers,  E  E,  are  two  feet  in  the  clear,  with  the 
bottoms  raised  four  inches  above  the  feet  of  the  cow. 
A  separate  feed-box  is  made  for  each  cow.  It  is  formed 
by  boarding  up  in  front  i6  or  i8  inches,  and  separating 
their  heads  with  a  partition  of  two  inch  plank.     The 


102  American  Dairying. 

part  over  the  manure  shed  is  fitted  up  witlx  stalls  for 
transient  horses  and  places  for  keeping  calves  in  the 
spring,  or  for  absorbents,  as  may  be  required. 

One  of  the  essential  advantages  of  dairying  over 
other  modes  of  farming  is  the  better  means  it  affords 
for  maintaining  and  improving  the  fertility  of  the 
farm.  The  extent  to  which  the  manure  heap  shall 
contribute  to  this  end  depends  very  much  upon  the 
arrangements  of  the  dairy  barn  for  taking  care  of  the 
manure.  If  stables  are  placed  in  a  lean-to  on  either 
side  of  the  barn,  as  is  frequently  done,  and  the  manure 
thrown  out  of  windows  under  the  eaves,  to  be  washed 
by  the  drippings  of  a  wide  roof,  half  the  value  of  the 
manure  will  be  lost  by  the  waste  of  all  the  liquid 
excrement  of  the  herd,  and  very  likely,  half  the 
strength  of  the  remainder  will  be  steeped  out  and 
soaked  into  the  ground  where  it  is  not  needed,  and  the 
bulky  remainder  finally  carried  to  the  field  worth  only 
one  quarter  its  original  value — a  minimum  too  small 
to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  A  remedy  has 
been  sought  in  a  manure  cellar  directly  under  the 
stable,  into  which  everything  is  dropped  through  trap 
doors  directly  behind  the  cows.  This  makes  a  com- 
plete saving  of  all  the  manure,  but  the  fumes  from  the 
fermenting  mass  in  the  cellar  are  constantly  steaming 
up  through  every  crevice  and  opening,  and  filling  the 
room  above  w^ith  offensive  air,  unwholesome  for  the 
cows  to  breathe. 

All  these  defects  are  obviated  in  the  plan  before  us. 
The  manure  shed,  instead  of  being  under  the  stable, 
is  at  one  end  and  entirely  outside  of  it,  and  is  effect- 
ually shut  away  from  it.  It  is  open  on  one  side  so 
that  all  the  effluvia  that  arises  escapes  into  the  atmos- 
phere,  instead  of  being   driven    into    the  apartment 


TJie  Dairy  Barn.  loj 

above.  It  is  at  the  same  time  perfectly  protected  from 
the  weather.  The  gutter  behind  the  cows  and  the 
whole  stable  inclines  a  few  inches,  making  it  easy  to 
wheel  the  manure  to  the  shed,  where  it  is  dumped 
through  the  trap  doors,  T  T.  The  saving  of  manure 
is  complete,  as  all  the  liquid  would  find  its  way  to  the 
shed  by  draining  if  not  otherwise  provided  for.  But 
bedding  and  absorbents  are  always  supplied  for  taking 
it  up  and  it  goes  in  daily  with  the  solids.  Whenever 
necessary,  the  gutter  is  rinsed  out  and  the  wash  all 
goes  into  the  shed  and  is  saved.  The  droppings  from 
the  stalls,  S,  and  from  the  horse  stables  in  the  wing, 
are  also  daily  mixed  with  that  from  the  cows,  impro- 
ving the  condition  of  both.  One  is  prevented  from 
heating  too  much  and  also  acts  as  an  absorbent,  and 
the  other  from  being  too  cold,  wet  and  soggy. 

The  high  posts  make  the  loft  a  capacious  receptacle 
for  fodder.  It  will  easily  hold  loo  tons.  The  bents 
are  12  feet  distant  from  each  other  and  divide  the 
whole  into  eight  equal  parts.  The  timbers  inside  are 
arranged  with  a  view  to  unloading  with  a  horse  fork, 
so  that  no  beams  are  in  the  way.  Beginning  at  the 
back  side  each  division  is  filled  separately  and  the  fod- 
der can  be  taken  out  separately,  if  desired.  As  the 
filling  progresses,  a  scaffold  is  laid  over  the  driving 
floor.  A,  of  plank,  the  ends  of  which  reach  to  the  scaf- 
folds over  the  stables  and  rest  on  8x10  girts  reaching 
from  bent  to  bent. 

This,  when  the  barn  is  filled,  forms  a  complete  cover- 
ing over  head,  utilizing  all  the  room  for  storage  and 
making  the  stables  warmer  in  the  winter  by  prevent- 
ing a  too  ready  escape  of  the  heat  radiating  from  the 
cows.  With  the  recent  improvements  in  railway  forks, 
such  a  barn  could  be  filled  by  driving  up  to  the  front 


104-  American  Dairying. 

end  and  taking  the  hay  in  through  elevated  doors  and 
carrying  it  back,  wherever  desired,  on  an  elevated 
railway,  or  the  hay  could  be  taken  just  within  the 
front  doors  and  elevated  and  carried  back  from  there, 
easier  than  to  drive  in  and  back  out  through  so  long 
a  distance,  and  save  also  the  labor  of  moving  and 
replacing  the  scaffold  over  the  floor. 

Bins  for  holding  feed  are  placed  in  the  front  end  of 
the  second  story.  The  feed  is  elevated  with  a  hoisting 
apparatus,  and  spouted  down  as  wanted.  The  feeding 
and  foddering  is  all  done  in  the  barn,  and  the  arrange- 
ments for  doing  it  are  very  convenient. 

The  milking  is  also  always  done  in  the  barn,  and 
for  this  purpose  it  is  located  convenient  to  the  dairy 
house  and  dwelling,  which  are  combined.  Conven- 
ience and  comfort  in  milking  are  important  considera- 
tions, and  they  have  been  well  provided  for.  It  is 
warm  and  comfortable  in  winter.  The  sides  of  the 
barn  are  boarded  up  with  matched  stuff  and  battened; 
the  doors  and  windows  are  all  snugly  fitted,  leaving 
no  gaps  for  cold  winds  to  rush  in ;  the  cows  stand 
upon  the  ground  and  the  floor  lies  upon  the  ground, 
giving  no  chance  for  wintry  currents  to  drive  under 
and  crowd  up  through  cracks  to  reduce  the  tempera- 
ture inside  to  a  level  with  that  outside.  The  stables 
never  freeze. 

In  the  summer  it  is  cool  and  airy.  The  stables  con- 
tain 46  stanchions,  while  the  number  of  cows  milked 
is  usually  about  30,  so  that  there  is  no  sweltering  heat 
from  cows  being  crowded  together  too  closely.  Ven- 
tilation is  easy  and  ample.  Besides  the  admission  of 
air  through  the  doors,  there  are  large  wickets  in  the 
sides  of  the  barn  above  and  behind  the  cows,  as  shown 
in  the  elevation^  and  directly  behind  each  fourth  cow 


Tlie  Dairy  Barn,  lo^ 

is  a  small  door  30  inches  square,  opening  down  to  the 
stable  floor.  These  little  doors  are  a  happy  arrange- 
ment. While  the  warm  air  passes  out  through  the 
wickets  above,  the  opening  of  these  doors  never  fails 
to  let  in  a  current  of  fresh  air  that  strikes  directly 
upon  each  cow,  which  is  enjoyed  alike  by  the  cow  and 
her  milker. 

The  cost  of  the  barn  and  wing  was  about  $6,000. 
The  main  barn  cost  something  over  half  this  sum. 
Parties  desiring  to  build  with  less  expense  could 
somewhat  shorten  the  length  of  the  stables  for  the 
number  of  cows,  and  build  a  cheaper  manure  shed. 
The  wing  will  not  generally  be  needed  for  a  dairy- 
barn,  as  the  accommodations  it  affords  are  usually 
found  in  other  buildings,  which  in  Mr.  M's  case  had 
been  swept  away  by  fire.  A  nice  and  substantial  barn, 
capable  of  accommodating  30  cows,  could  now  be 
built  for  $3,000,  or  probably  less. 

Some  years  ago  dairy  barns  were  built  only  for  con- 
venience in  milking.  When  this  was  the  main  object, 
it  was  a  very  common  practice  to  turn  the  heads  of 
the  cows  out  toward  the  side  of  the  barn,  leaving  a 
walk  between  the  side  of  the  barn  and  the  manger. 
The  hind  parts  of  the  cows  were  far  enough  apart  to 
leave  a  clean  place  between,  and  room  enough  to 
travel  and  carry  milk.  So  long  as  nothing  but  a 
milking  barn  was  required,  this  arrangement  was  con- 
venient and  well  enough.  But  lately,  soiling  in  the 
dry  part  of  the  season,  at  least,  has  become  so  common, 
and  is  now  regarded  as  such  a  necessity  for  keeping 
up  an  unabated  flow  of  milk,  that  preparation  for 
feeding  green  fodder  of  some  kind,  to  supply  the  fail- 
ing grass,  must  be  provided  for  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  milking   barn,  where   the  cows  are  to  be  daily 


io6 


A  merican  Dairying. 


herded.  For  this  purpose  the  milking  barns  of  the 
more  modern  times  are  arranged  to  place  the  heads  of 
the  cows  toward  each  other,  and  the  barn  so  arranged 
so  as  to  drive  through  with  a  wagon  load  of  fodder 
and  throwing  it  off  on  each  side.  This  convenience 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  erection  of  a  milk- 
ing barn,  whether  it  is  built  separately  or  in  connec- 
tion with  other  buildings. 


The  use  of  the  horse  fork  is  now  as  much  a  necessity 
to  the  hay  barn  as  the  mow^er  is  to  the  meadow,  and 
the  frame  of  the  modern  dairy-barn  should  be  adapted 
to  its  use,  by  leaving  out  as  many  as  possible  of  the 
inside  timbers,  and  by  arranging  those  which  must 
remain  so  as  not  to  be  in  the  way.     For  this  purpose, 


TJie  Dairy  Barn.  loj 

Frank  Keeler,  of  Otto,  N.  Y.,  President  of  the  Cat- 
taraugus Co.  Farmer's  Club,  makes  a  very  favorable 
disposition  of  the  interior  timbers  of  dairy  barns. 
The  accompanying  illustration  gives  a  view  of  the 
timbers  for  one  of  the  middle  bents  of  a  barn  built 
by  him.  For  each  bent  there  is  a  pair  of  "  principal 
rafters,"  A  A,  framed  into  the  outside  posts  just  below 
the  plates.  A  tenon  on  the  end  of  the  middle  posts 
passes  through  them,  and  they  are  framed  together 
and  pinned  at  the  upper  ends.  The  whole  bent  is  thus 
tied  together  so  it  cannot  possibly  spread.  The  true 
rafters  are  supported  in  the  middle  by  a  perlin  which 
rests  on  the  principal  rafters,  as  shown  at  B  B.  The 
bents  are  prevented  from  spreading  by  tenons  entering 
the  sills,  by  the  girts,  C  C,  and  by  the  "  principal 
rafters,"  thus  making  the  frame  very  firm  while  it 
leaves  the  space  over  head  entirely  free  from  any  im- 
pediment to  the  fork,  nor  is  there  any  "big beam,"  or 
anything  else  above  the  girts,  in  the  way  of  passing 
the  horsefork  into  the  spaces  between  the  bents  on 
either  side. 


[oS  Ajnerican  Dairy  Dig. 


THE  OCTAGON  BARN. 


Where  a  single  building  is  desired  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  a  milking  barn  and  winter  stable,  a  hay 
and  grain  barn,  a  carriage  house  and  horse  barn,  the 
octagon  barn  has  some  advantages  which  commend  it 
to  the  favorable  consideration  of  dairymen,  to  which 
it  seems  proper  to  call  their  attention.  Its  form  is 
compact,  and  every  part  of  it  is  easily  reached  from  a 
single  central  floor;  it  affords  the  most  convenient 
arrangement  for  the  use  of  the  horse  fork,  as  no 
interior  timbers  are  required  for  supporting  the  roof. 
The  roof  can  be  made  self-supporting  and  the  space 
above  the  scaffolds  thus  left  entirely  free  of  timbers 
of  any  kind,  thus  giving  a  greater  freedom  of  action 
for  the  horse  fork  than  any  other  form.  Next  to  the 
circle,  it  takes  less  wall  and  less  siding  to  enclose  a 
given  area  than  any  other  shape.  The  difference  in 
the  cost  of  wall,  siding,  and  timber,  for  building  a 
separate  structure  for  each  purpose  the  farm  requires; 
and  furnishing  the  same  room  in  a  single  octagon,  is 
about  one  half.  The  difference  between  furnishing  it 
in  a  single  rectangular  building  and  an  octagon,  is 
from  y^to}^. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  give  an  elevation 
and  ground  plan  of  a  barn  of  this  form,  built  last 
season  by  Prof.  E.  W.  Stewart,  of  Lake  View,  Erie 
Co.,  N.  Y.  It  is  copied  from  the  January  number  of 
the  Zive  Stock  Journal  for  1876. 


Tlw  Octagon  Barn.  log 

The  barn  was  built  to  replace  four  others  which 
had  been  burned,  and  was  designed  to  afford  all  the 
barn  conveniences  and  storage  for  carriages  and  tools 
required  for  a  farm  of  250  acres. 

Its  dimensions  are  80  feet  diameter,  28  feet  posts, 
the  sides  being  each  t^t^  feet  and  2  inches  long. 

To  give  a  general  idea  of  an  octagon  barn,  and  how 
to  arrange  its  interior,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  copy 
from  Mr.  Stewart's  description  of  the  barn  here  illus- 
trated : 

"This  octagon  has  an  outside  wall  of  265  feet,  while  the  other 
four  barns  had  an  aggregate  of  716  feet  of  outside  wall,  showing 
the  great  economy  of  this  form  in  expense  of  wall  and  siding. 
If  we  compare  it  with  a  single  barn  50X10S,  the  latter  will  enclose 
the  same  number  of  square  feet  and  have  the  same  capacity  at  the 
same  height,  but  requires  fift)^-one  feet  more  of  outside  wall.  The 
rectangular  barn  will  also  require  many  more  interior  cross 
beams  and  posts,  which  are  in  the  way,  besides  adding  to  the 
expense.  The  long  rectangle  requires,  for  convenience,  two  cross 
floors,  which  take  up  more  room,  and  being  separated,  are  less 
convenient  than  the  single  floor  through  the  center  of  the  octagon. 
The  long  barn  requires  posts  and  purlins  to  support  the  roof, 
which  are  obstructions  in  filling  with  hay  and  grain,  while  the 
octagonal  roof  of  one-third  pitch  is  self-supporting,  resting  only 
on  the  outside  plates,  and  maybe  safely  stretched  over  a  diameter 
large  enough  to  accommodate  a  farm  of  1,000  acres,  or  say  150 
feet  in  diameter.  The  plates  perform  the  office  of  the  bottom 
chord,  and  the  hip  rafters  of  the  top  chord,  in  a  truss.  The  strain 
on  the  plates  is  an  endwise  pull,  and  if  they  are  strong  enough 
to  stand  the  strain  of  the  push  at  the  foot  of  the  rafters,  the  bot- 
tom of  the  roof  cannot  spread,  and  the  rafters  being  properly 
bridged  from  the  middle  to  the  top,  cannot  crush,  and  the  whole 
roof  must  remain  rigidly  in  place.  Its  external  form  being  that 
of  an  octagonal  cone,  each  side  bears  equally  upon  every  other 
side,  and  it  has  great  strength  without  any  cross  ties  or  beams, 
requiring  no  more  material  or  labor  than  the  ordinary  roof.  The 
plates  are  halved  together  at  the  corners,  and  the  lips  bolted 
together  with  four  half-inch  iron  bolts  [see  fig.  4]  ;  a  brace  8x8 


no 


American  Dairyiji^ 


If  I    I    I    I    .    I    I    rT~i    1    I    I    I    I    j   I    I    1 


M 


Fig.  J. 
OCTAGON  BASEMENT,  (north  side). 
Explanation. — A  BCD,  doors  of  basement ;  E,  drive-way  through  the  cen- 
ter ;  N  C,  south  drive-way  for  cart  to  carry  out  manure  ;  O  D,  north  drive-way  ; 
M,  spare  room  for  root  cellar  or  any  other  purpose  ;  L  L,  lying-in  stalls  for  cows  ; 
K,  horse  mangers  ;  J,  horse  stalls  ;  F,  forty  cow  stalls  or  stanchions,  there  should 
be  no  separation  between  these  spaces  and  H  ;  G  G,  cow  mangers  ;  H  H,  an  open 
grated  platform  for  cows  to  stand  on,  the  manure  falling  through  upon  a  concrete 
floor  below. 

inches  is  fitted  across  the  inside  angle  of  the  plate  corner,  with  a 
three-fourths  inch  iron  bolt  through  each  toe  of  the  brace  and 
through  the  plate,  with  an  iron  plate  along  the  face  of  the  brace 
taking  each  bolt,  the  nut  turning  down  upon  this  iron  plate. 
Now  the  hip  rafter  (T),  6x12  inches,  is  cut  into  the  corner  of  the 
plate,  with  a  shoulder  striking  this  cross  brace,  the  hip  rafter 
being  bolted  (with  three-fourths  inch  iron  bolt)  through  the  plate 
into  the  corner  post.  [See  fig.  3.]  Thus  the  plate  corner  is  made 
as  strong  as  any  other  part  of  the  stick.     There  is  a  purlin  rim 


The  Octagon  Barn. 


Ill 


Fig.  2. 

OCTAGON  BARN,  (north  elevation). 

Explanation —P,  plate  ;    R,  tie-rod  and  bridging  between  rafters  ;    S,  purlin 

rim  :    T,  hip  rafters. 

(S)  of  8xio  inch  timber,  put  together  like  the  plate  rim,  bolted 
under  the  middle  of  the  hip  rafters,  which  supports  the  interme- 
diate rafters.  The  hips  may  be  tied  to  the  intermediates  by  long 
rods  half  way  between  the  plate  and  the  purlin,  if  deemed  neces- 
sary from  the  size  of  the  roof  (R).  The  north  section  of  the  roof 
(fig.  2)  is  represented  as  uncovered,  showing  the  plate  (P),  purlin 
(S),  tie-rod  (R)  and  bridging  between  plate  and  purlin  and  the 
two  sets  of  bridging  above  purlin,  etc.  It  will  be  noted  that,  in 
this  form  of  roof,  the  roof-boards  act  as  a  powerful  tie  to  hold  it 
all  together,  each  nail  holding  to  the  extent  of  its  strength,  thus 
supplementing  the  strength  of  the  plate-rim  or  bottom  chord. 


112  AmericinL  Dairying. 

It  will  be  seen  by  fig.  2,  that  there  is  a  drive-way  fifteen  feet 
wide  through  the  center  of  the  principal  story  from  north  to  south. 
There  is  a  line  of  "  big  beams  "  on  either  side  of  this  drive-way, 
thirteen  feet  high,  across  which  a  scaffold  may  be  thrown  to 
enable  us  to  occupy  the  high  space  over  this  floor.  The  posts 
being  28  feet  high  and  roof  rising  22^^  feet,  the  cupola  floor  is 
50  feet  above  the  drive-way  floor  below.  The  space  above  these 
"  big  beams"  is  quite  clear  of  any  obstruction,  and  a  horse  pitch- 
ing fork  may  be  run  at  pleasure  to  any  part.  The  bay  for  hay  on 
the  left  side  of  this  floor  is  80  feet  long,  and  has  an  area  of  2,030 
square  feet,  and  is  capable  of  holding,  when  filled  to  the  roof,  160 
tons  of  hay.  This  bay,  extending  along  the  floor  eighty  feet,  may 
be  divided  into  as  many  parts  as  required  for  different  qualities 
of  hay,  and  each  part  be  quite  convenient  for  filling  and  taking 
out. 

On  the  right  hand  side  of  the  floor  is  a  scaffold,  eight  feet 
high,  having  the  same  area  (2,030  square  feet)  for  carriages,  farm 
tools  and  machines  below;  above  this  scaffold  is — a  height  of  18^ 
feet  to  the  plates — a  large  space  for  grain,  affording  ample  room 
for  the  separate  storage  of  each  kind  to  the  aggregate  storage  of 
2,000  bushels  or  more.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  large  space  in 
this  barn  is  all  reached  and  filled  from  one  floor,  saving  much 
labor  in  changing  from  one  floor  to  another,  In  our  other  build- 
ings we  had  six  places  for  hay,  holding  less  than  this  one  bay, 
requiring  the  moving  of  the  horse  fork  and  tackle  to  six  different 
bays,  while  in  this  bay  the  haying  will  begin  and  end,  with  room 
to  spare. 

THE  BASEMENT. 

Fig.  I  shows  the  basement  as  we  intend  to  use  it,  yet  there  are 
many  different  ways  in  which  it  may  be  divided  for  stock  and 
other  purposes. 

The  drive-way  through  the  basement  is  from  west  to  east, 
being  the  feeding  floor  between  two  rows  of  cattle,  with  heads 
turned  toward  the  floor.  The  floor  is  14'/^  feet  wide,  out  of  which 
come  two  rows  of  mangers  2^  feet  wide,  leaving  a  space  of  10 
feet  for  driving  a  wagon  through,  or  running  a  car  carrying  food 
for  the  animals.  There  are  places  for  twenty  cows  or  other  cattle 
on  each  side,  leaving  a  space  of  18  feet  at  the  west  end  to  drive  a 
cart  around  behind  the  cattle  on  either  side  to  carry  away  the 
manure  and  pass  out  at  a  side  stable  door,  eight  feet  wide.     The 


The  Octagon  Barn.  iij 

horse  stalls  are  arranged  on  the  south  side,  but  may  be  placed  on 
either  of  several  other  sides,  or  on  all.  By  placing  tails  to  wall 
and  heads  on  an  inner  circle,  drawn  twelve  feet  from  the  wall, 
with  feed-box  room  three  feet  wide  for  each  horse,  with  ample 
room  at  the  rear,  sixteen  horse  stalls  may  be  arranged  on  south- 
west, south  and  southeast  sides.  But  for  200  acre  farms,  generally 
no  more  than  forty  head  of  cattle  and  six  horses  would  be  kept, 
and  for  such  our  ground  plan  would  be  most  convenient,  because 
it  furnishes  easy  access  with  a  cart,  both  for  supplying  fodder  and 
carrying  away  the  manure.  On  our  plan,  we  have  much  space  on 
the  north,  northwest  and  northeast  sides,  which  may  be  used  for 
various  purposes,  such  as  root  cellar,  sheep  fold  for  fifty  sheep, 
or  for  stowing  away  tools,  working  wagons  and  implements. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  basement  is  not  sunk  in  the  earth,  but 
on  the  north  and  south  sides  it  is  graded  up  to  the  floor  of  the 
second  story,  so  as  to  make  an  easy  drive-way  into  the  barn.  The 
base  line,  as  represented  on  the  drawing,  is  four  feet  below  the 
general  level  of  the  land  on  the  north  side,  but  there  is  an  open 
channel  of  water,  into  which  every  part  is  drained,  on  the  south 
side.  The  earth  on  the  east  and  west  sides  is  scraped  upon  the 
north  and  south  sides  to  grade  up  the  drive-ways  into  second 
story.  The  basement  is  lighted  by  six  windows  of  twenty  lights, 
8x12  glass,  and  six  of  ten  lights  each. 

THE  OCTAGON  ADAPTED  TO  ALL  SIZED   FARMS. 

A  little  examination  of  this  form  of  barn  will  not  only  show 
its  adaptation  to  large  farms,  but  to  all  sizes — from  the  smallest 
to  the  largest.  A  farmer  has  but  to  calculate  how  much  room  he 
wants  for  cattle,  how  much  for  horses,  how  much  for  sheep,  how 
much  for  hay  and  grain,  how  much  for  carriages,  wagons,  tools, 
or  any  other  purpose,  and  he  can  enclose  just  the  number  of 
square  feet  needed,  and  with  the  shortest  outside  wall.  He  may 
be  liberal  in  his  allowance  of  room,  for  it  costs  less,  in  proportion, 
as  the  size  is  increased.  Suppose  he  requires  for  a  fifty  acre  farm 
2,000  square  feet  of  room;  this  would  require  a  fifty  foot  octagon, 
or  a  40x52  rectangle.  Now  he  would  require  timber  forty  feet 
long  for  the  latter,  while  he  could  build  the  octagon  with  timber 
for  the  sills  and  plates  only  twenty-two  feet  long,  and  this  would 
be  the  longest  timber,  unless  he  wished  his  posts  higher.  Each 
side  would  be  only  202^  feet,  and  the  wall  for  the  basement  165 


//-/  American  DuLryiHg. 

feet  long,  whilst  the  other  would  be  184  feet  long,  saving  ig  feet 
of  wall  and  siding  by  the  octagon,  requiring  but  eight  corner 
posts,  and  no  intermediates,  as  the  girts  would  be  less  than  20 
feet  long.  He  would  require  no  interior  posts  or  beams,  except 
those  for  scaffolds.  All  the  ordinary  purlin  posts  and  beams 
would  be  saved,  and  the  labor  on  them.  It  is  easy,  also,  to  see 
that  a  few  feet  added  to  each  side  would  furnish  room  for  another 
fifty  acres,  and  so  on  to  any  size  desired.  This  form  of  building, 
properly  understood,  would  lead  farmers  to  abandon  the  building 
of  a  separate  barn  for  each  specific  purpose,  and  to  providing  for 
all  their  necessities  under  one  roof." 

The  octagon  of  Mr.  S.,  which  I  had  the  satisfaction 
of  inspecting  last  fall,  is  a  model  of  simplicity  of 
structure,  of  strength  and  durability,  of  convenience 
and  cheapness,  all  combined  with  architectural  taste. 

Economy  in  cost  of  erecting,  in  time  and  labor 
of  attendants,  and  the  comfort  and  health  of  the  stock 
to  be  cared  for,  has  been,  as  it  should  be,  considered 
in  every  feature  from  cupola  to  foundation.  In  the 
examination  of  this  building  I  was  as  forcibly  im- 
pressed with  the  economy  and  skill  in  the  construction 
of  the  basement  walls,  as  in  the  superstructure  which 
rests  upon  them. 

Walls  which  are  cheap,  strong  and  durable,  and 
non-conductors  of  heat  and  moisture,  are  important 
to  the  dairy  farmer,  as  foundations  and  for  basements 
to  farm  buildings  and  factories.  They  are  in  such 
requisition  that  I  trust  I  cannot  do  a  better  service 
than  to  close  these  remarks  on  dairy  structures  with 
Mr.  Stewart's  account  of  the  economy  and  mode  of 
constructing  concrete  walls  for  farm  buildings  : 
CONCRETE  WALL. 

"  The  advantages  of  this  mode  of  building  walls  are  not  suffi- 
ciently known,  for  when  fully  understood  this  wall  must  come 
into  more  general  use.  In  many  parts  of  the  country  suitable 
stone  is  not  to  be  had,  and,  where  stone  is  plenty,  this  mode  of 


TJie  Octagon  Barn,  ii^ 

using  them  is  far  preferable  to  the  ordinary  way  of  building  a 
wall.  The  concrete,  which  would  build  a  wall  alone,  may  be 
used  to  cement  the  stone  together,  and  thus  save  the  cement 
which  would  occupy  the  space  of  the  stone.  In  many  parts  of 
the  country,  small  flat  stones  are  thrown  out  by  the  plow  and 
need  to  be  gotten  off  the  field.  These  will  work  into  the  con- 
crete wall  and  make  an  excellent  job.  They  will  have  a  firm 
bearing  upon  each  other  and  thus  render  the  wall  strong  befoie 
it  sets  hard.  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  let  stones  come  quite  to 
the  surface  of  the  wall,  but  cover  their  edges  with  concrete. 
Concrete  is  more  porous  than  stone  and  will  not  conduct  heat  and 
cold  like  stone.  A.  concrete  wall  will  show  no  frost  on  the  inside 
in  winter,  is  drier  and  cooler  in  summer,  and  warmer  in  winter, 
than  stones,  and,  therefore,  it  is  well  not  to  let  the  stone  come 
within  three-fourths  inch  of  the  outside.  You  can  use  any  kind 
ot  cobble  or  irregular  hard  stone  in  this  kind  of  wall,  but  it  may 
be  built  of  clear  sand  and  gravel,  the  gravel  being  large  or  small, 
and  stone  may  be  mixed  with  the  sand  and  gravel. 

WATER-LIME  CONCRETE  FOR  FOUNDATIONS. 
If  there  is  moisture  to  come  to  the  wall,  water-lime  must  be 
used,  and  it  is  well  to  carry  two  or  three  feet  above  the  ground 
with  concrete.  The  place  should  also  be  excavated  one  or  two 
feet  beyond  the  proposed  wall,  so  as  to  leave  an  air-space  on  the 
outside,  giving  the  wall  a  chance  to  dry  and  become  hard.  If,  in 
any  case,  you  go  into  the  slate  rock,  which  is  always  full  of  seams 
charged  with  moisture,  you  must  not  allow  the  concrete  to  be 
built  against  this  rock,  for  the  moisture  in  the  rock  coming  into 
the  thin  mortar  will  cause  the  milk  of  lime  to  run  out  and  leave 
an  infinite  number  of  fine  pores  through  which  water  will  run  ; 
but  if  no  water  is  allowed  to  come  to  it  while  drying,  it  will  be 
water  and  air  tight.  It  is  also  well  to  have  a  drain  cut  lower  than 
the  bottom  of  the  wall  on  the  outside,  to  carry  oflf  any  water  that 
might  otherwise  come  against  it,  which  will  render  the  basement 
dry. 

PROPORTIONS  OF  WATER-LIME  CONCRETE. 

If  you  have  only  sand  to  use,  mix  five  parts  with  one  of  water- 
lime,  thoroughly,  while  dry  ;  then  wet  into  a  thin  mortar  and  use 
immediately.     But  if  you  also  have  gravel,  mix  the   sand  and 


ii6  'American  Dairying. 

water-lime,  four  to  one,  then  mix  into  this  five  or  six  of  gravel, 
make  into  thin  mortar  and  use  at  once.  This  will  make  a  con- 
crete of  about  nine  to  one.  If  you  also  have  stones  to  lay  with  it, 
put  these  stone  into  the  boxes  and  cover  with  this  mortar,  and  all 
the  stone  you  put  in  will  save  so  much  mortar  and  make  your 
wall  stronger  while  new.  If  you  use  only  sand  and  stone,  then 
mix  the  water-lime  five  to  one,  lay  the  stone  with  it.  The  way  is 
to  put  a  layer  of  an  inch  of  mortar  in  the  bottom  and  then  a  layer 
of  stone,  then  of  mortar  and  so  on,  letting  the  mortar  come  over 
the  edge  of  the  stone. 

PROPORTIONS  OF  QUICK-LIME  CONCRETE. 

If  only  a  basement  wall  is  built,  you  may  use  water-lime  for  it 
all  ;  or  when  you  get  so  far  above  the  ground  that  moisture  will 
not  affect  it,  you  may  use  quick-lime,  which  is  cheaper,  and  goes 
farther.  If  )'Ou  live  near  a  lime-kiln,  it  will  be  cheaper  to  get  the 
fine  air-slacked  lime  about  the  kiln,  which  will  answer  just  as 
well,  if  you  estimate  only  the  fine  lime  and  not  the  small  stones 
in  it.  In  mixing  this  concrete,  take  ten  of  sand  and  one  of  lime, 
slaking  the  lime  thin  before  you  mix  in  the  sand  ;  now  mix  in 
ten  or  twelve  parts  of  gravel,  fing  and  coarse,  and  use  this  as  a 
mortar  to  make  the  wall  or  lay  the  stone.  Mix  it  all  well 
together,  and  then  wheel  in  a  barrow  and  shovel  into  the  wall- 
boxes.  The  sand  and  lime  will  fill  all  the  spaces  between  the 
gravel  and  the  stone,  if  you  have  any  stone,  cementing  all 
together.  The  quick-lime  may  be  mixed  some  time  before  using, 
as  the  mortar  is  all  the  better  for  it ;  but  it  does  not  set  so  quick 
as  water-lime,  and  must  have  more  time  between  layers.  But  a 
quick-lime  concrete  is  more  porous,  and,  consequently,  drier  and 
cooler  in  summer  and  warmer  in  winter.  The  proportions  will 
var)'^  according  to  the  strength  of  the  lime. 

CONSTRUCTING  THE    BOXES  FOR  THE  WALL. 

Having  determined  the  place  and  excavated  for  the  wall,  con- 
struct the  boxes  as  follows  :  Take  3x4  scantling  for  the  standards, 
a  little  longer  than  the  Avail  is  high  ;  place  these  on  each  side  of 
the  proposed  wall,  as  far  apart  as  the  thickness  of  the  wall  and 
the  thickness  of  the  plank  for  the  boxes.  The  plank  should  be 
fourteen  inches  wide,  one  and  one-half  inches  thick,  and  of  a 

If  the  wall  is  thirt3'-two  feet 


The  Octagon  Barn.  liy 

long,  then  sixteen  feet  plank  will  be  the  right  length.  These 
standards  would  thus  be  placed  fifteen  inches  apart ;  placing  the 
plank  inside  the  standards  would  leave  twelve  inches  for  the 
wall.  These  standards  are  held  the  proper  distance  at  the  bot- 
tom by  nailing  a  thin  piece  of  board  across  under  the  lower  end, 
and  the  tops  fastened  with  a  cross-piece.  The  wall  is  built  over 
these  pieces  at  the  bottom,  and  they  are  left  in  the  wall.  The 
standards  are  plumbed,  and  made  fast  by  braces  outside.  Now, 
it  will  be  seen  that  these  plank  can  be  moved  up  on  the  inside  of 
the  standards  as  fast  as  the  wall  goes  up.  The  plank  on  the  out- 
side of  the  wall  will,  of  course,  be  longer  than  those  on  the  inside 
by  the  thickness  of  the  wall.  The  door  frames  will  have  jams  as 
wide  as  the  wall  is  thick,  and  will  make  standards  for  that  place. 
There  will  be  a  pair  of  standards  at  each  end  of  the  plank  ;  but 
the  pair  in  the  middle  of  the  wall  will  hold  the  ends  of  both 
plank.  To  hold  the  plank  from  springing  out  between  the  stand- 
ards, take  a  piece  of  narrow  hard-wood  board,  two  feet  long,  bore 
a  two-inch  hole  at  each  end  having  fifteen  inches  between  them  ; 
put  a  strong  pin  two  feet  long  through  these  holes  some  ten 
inches  ;  now  these  pins  will  just  fit  over  the  outside  of  the  box 
plank,  and  by  putting  a  brace  between  the  upper  ends  will  hold 
them  tight  against  the  plank,  preventing  their  springing  out.  Two 
of  these  clamps  will  be  required  for  each  set  of  plank  sixteen  feet 
long.  Now,  when  the  box-plank  are  placed  all  around  the  wall, 
begin  and  fill  in  the  concrete  mortar  and  stone,  as  described  ;  and 
when  you  get  round,  if  water-lime  is  used,  you  may  raise  the 
plank  one  foot  and  go  around  again,  raising  the  wall  one  foot 
each  day,  if  you  have  men  enough.  You  will  place  the  window 
frames  in  the  boxes  when  the  wall  is  raised  high  enough  to  bring 
the  top  of  the  frame  to  the  top  of  the  proposed  wall.  The  jams 
and  sills  of  the  window-frames  will  be  as  wide  as  the  door  frames. 

COST  OF  THE  CONCRETE  WALL. 

The  cost  of  the  concrete  wall  for  the  basement  of  the  So  foot 
octagon — 2653^  feet  long,  15  inches  thick  at  the  bottom,  12  inches 
at  top,  containing  2,535  cubic  feet — was  $250;  the  items  being  as 
follows  :  water-lime  65  barrels,  $90.35  ;  lumber  for  door  and  win- 
dow frames  and  board  on  top  of  wall,  $19.34  ;  carpenter  work, 
making  window  and  door  frames,  fitting  and  plumbing  standards, 
fitting  plank  boxes  for  wall,  etc.,  $41  ;  getting  material  and   the 


Ii8  American  Dairying. 

labor  of  laying  the  wall,  $99.31,  or  about  ten  cents  per  cubic  foot. 
This  was  the  cost  of  a  water-lime  concrete,  quick-lime  costs  less. 
Of  course  the  cost  of  concrete  wall  will  depend  upon  the  con- 
venience of  getting  sand,  gravel,  stone  and  lime.  It  would  take 
more  lime  to  build  altogether  with  fine  sand,  as  the  fine  grains 
have  so  much  greater  surface  to  be  coated  with  lime,  but  with 
sharp  sand,  one  of  water-lime  to  six  of  sand,  makes  a  solid  wall, 
great  care  being  taken  to  mix  the  sand  and  lime  well  together 
while  dry.  Mixed  in  this  proportion,  it  would  cost  about  six 
cents  per  cubic  foot  for  the  lime,  but  quick-lime,  for  the  wall 
above  the  line  of  moisture,  would  cost  about  half  as  much.  Yet 
it  must  be  remembered  that  flat  stone  usually  cost  about  ten  cents 
per  cubic  foot,  or  the  full  cost  of  a  concrete  wall. 

In  building  a  concrete  wall  the  labor  is  very  much  less,  as  the 
help  required  to  tend  a  mason  will  build  more  feet  of  concrete 
than  the  mason  and  tender  both,  on  the  common  wall." 

The  barn  and  basement  cost  Mr.  S.  as  follows : 

For  lumber $1,167  ^9 

For  nails,  bolts,  iron  for  gutters,  hinges,  &c 161  32 

For  painting,  glazing  and  n.aterials  lor  same 139  65 

For  water  lime 90  35 

For  labor,  including  carpenter  work 797  88 

For  labor  of  farm  hands,  team,  and  board,  estimated.  . .       400  00 

Total $2,756  39 

An  octagon  of  fifty  feet  diameter  with  basement 
walls  eight  and  a  half  feet  high,  is  estimated  by  Mr.  S. 
to  cost  about  $Soo. 


Rearing  Calves.  iic^ 


REARING  CALVES. 


The  question  of  rearing  calves,  when  the  milk  of 
the  dairy  is  converted  into  cheese,  is  one  that  fre- 
quently agitates  the  mind  of  the  dairy  farmer.  The 
calf  cannot  be  raised  on  whey  alone.  What,  then, 
can  be  added  to  make  it  a  good  and  economical  sub- 
stitute for  milk  ?  There  is  not  much  left  in  whey  but 
sugar  and  mineral  matter.  The  sugar  is  useful  in  sup- 
porting respiration  and  making  fat,  and  the  mineral 
is  useful  in  making  bone,  but  there  is  not  much  in 
whey  to  make  flesh.  The  cheesemaker  takes  out  four- 
fifths  of  the  flesh-forming  matter  in  milk.  Supply 
this  loss  with  something  in  a  form  that  can  be  easily 
digested,  and  calves  can  live  on  the  resulting  mixture. 
A  good  many  things  can  be  substituted  for  the  flesh- 
forming  material  in  milk.  The  best  and  most  con- 
venient is  oil  meal ;  it  needs  only  to  be  soaked  in 
whey,  and  it  is  ready  for  use.  A  pound  of  oil  meal  a 
day,  dissolved  in  whey,  will  be  a  good  allowance  for  a 
calf  three  months  old,  and  175  pounds  will  be  enough 
for  six  months.     This,  at  $40  a  ton,  will  cost  $3.50. 

There  are  other  substitutes — pea  meal,  bean  meal, 
wheat  flour,  rye  flour,  buckwheat  flour,  fine  middlings, 
or  finely  ground  oat  and  corn  meal,  may  be  used. 
They  should  be  scalded,  to  make  them  easy  of  diges- 
tion and  to  prevent  scouring.  They  are  all  good 
remedies  for  scouring,  when  cooked,  and  are  rich  in 
wliat  is  required  to  lay  on  flesh.     Peas  and  beans  are 


120  American  Dairying. 

about  as  rich  as  oil  meal,  and  may  be  used  in  the  same 
quantity.  They  make  an  excellent  substitute  for  the 
lost  caseine  ;  the  flesh-forming  matter,  which  they 
contain,  is  in  a  condition  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
cheesy  matter  in  milk.  They  contain  so  much  caseine 
that,  when  boiled  to  a  paste,  and  properly  seasoned 
and  cured,  they  assume  a  cheesy  flavor.  If  flour  or 
meal  isnised,  the  quantity  should  be  double,  or  a  little 
more  than  double,  that  of  oil  meal,  graduating  the 
quantity  to  the  age  of  the  animal,  and  remembering 
that  scalding  is  always  necessary  to  make  digestion 
easy  and  prevent  scouring.  Scalding  the  whey  coun- 
teracts scouring,  and  improves  it  for  feeding;  but  the 
whey  must  not  get  too  sour.  Oil  meal  is  rather  laxa- 
tive ;  if  it  becomes  too  much  so,  its  eff'ects  may  be 
counteracted  by  using  flour  or  meal  in  the  place  of  a 
part  of  the  oil  meal ;  whatever  is  used,  should  be  well 
cooked,  in  the  form  of  a  thin  gruel.  Buckwheat 
flour  has  been  used  in  this  way,  with  excellent  effect. 
Pea-meal  used  in  the  same  way,  is  highly  recom- 
mended by  those  who  have  tried  it.  Good  calves 
have  been  raised  on  bean  soup,  and  also  on  hay  tea. 
The  tea  is  made  by  cutting  the  hay  and  steeping  it  in 
hot  water ;  the  soup,  by  boiling  the  beans  until  they 
become  soft  enough  to  mix  with  water,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  one  pint  of  beans  to  two  gallons.  Calves  are 
sometimes  fattened  for  veal  on  bean  porridge. 

The  natural  food  of  the  calf  is  milk,  which  is  the 
most  convenient  and  the  least  liable  to  get  the  calf  out 
of  health ;  but,  when  it  is  too  costly,  calves  may  be 
successfully  and  cheaply  raised  by  using  one  or 
several  of  the  foregoing  named  substitutes,  with  a 
little  addition  of  care  and  trouble.  The  mode  of 
feeding  may  be  thus  stated :     Let  the  calf  suck  until 


Rearing  Calves.  121 

the  milk  is  fit  to  use ;  then  taper  off  the  use  b}^  feed- 
ing warm  skimmed  milk  with  a  little  whey,  diminish- 
ing the  milk  and  increasing  the  whey,  until  the  milk 
is  dispensed  with,  which  may  be  do^ne  in  seven  or 
eight  days.  If  oil  meal  is  used,  begin  with  a  spoon- 
ful, soaked  in  hot  water  and  stirred  into  the  whey  that 
is  to  be  used  for  the  day.  Increase  the  oil  meal  a 
spoonful  at  a  time,  to  balance  the  decrease  of  skimmed 
milk.  When  the  milk  is  done  with,  use  one  pound  of 
oil  meal  per  day,  dissolved  in  as  much  whey,  or  whey 
and  water,  as  the  calf  needs  for  drink.  Feed  regularly 
twice  a  day,  and  always  warm,  until  the  weather 
becomes  hot,  when  the  temperature  of  the  feed  can  be 
dropped  a  degree  or  two  at  a  time,  until  it  reaches  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere.  No  sudden  changes 
should  be  made  in  the  quality  or  condition  of  the 
feed  of  young  calves  ;  they  will  do  better  if  they 
are  given  a  clean  place  and  afforded  shelter  from 
the  scorching  sun  and  beating  storm.  This  will 
also  afford  some  protection  against  sudden  changes 
of  temperature.  Good  bright,  early  cut  hay,  sliould 
be  provided  for  them  as  soon  as  three  weeks  old, 
until  supplied  with  green  grass,  on  which  they  should 
be  gradually  accustomed  to  rely.  They  should  also 
have  access  to  water,  as  they  may  desire,  and  salt 
should  be  supplied  to  them,  either  clear  or  in  their 
food. 

Calves  raised  in  this  way  require  more  care  and 
attention  than  when  raised  on  milk,  but  when  they 
are  properly  attended  to,  and  fed  without  pinching  or 
gorging,  they  may  be  made  at  a  small  cost,  to  reach  as 
good  a  growth  at  six  months  as  if  fed  on  milk,  and 
they  will  make  better  cows  for  the  dairy.  Heifer 
calves   designed  for  fhe  dairy  should  be  early  accus- 


122  American  Dairying. 

tomed  to  the  use  of  herbaceous  food  for  the  purpose, 
of  giving  expansion  and  vigor  to  the  rumen  or  first 
and  largest  division  of  the  stomach.  Feeding  much 
upon  milk  and  concentrated  food  does  not  give  so 
good  a  development  of  stomach,  nor  a  power  of  diges- 
tion suited  to  an  after  diet  of  grass,  as  an  early  habit 
of  living  upon  food  which  has  considerable  bulk.  Hay 
or  grass  should,  therefore,  form  as  large  a  part  of  the 
diet  of  the  heifer  calves  as  it  safely  can  and  keep  them 
growing  thriftily.  It  has  been  my  experience  and 
observation  for  years,  that  calves  thus  raised  make 
better  cows  than  those  which  have  been  pampered 
with  milk  and  much  concentrated  food. 


MILK. 


It  is  not  necessary  to  waste  words  in  describing  the 
appearance  of  milk.  Every  dairyman  knows  well 
enough  that  it  is  an  animal  secretion  common  to  all 
mammalia  for  the  first  food  of  their  young.  He  is 
also  acquainted  with  its  physical  qualities,  its  color, 
its  fluidity,  its  nutritious  and  wholesome  properties  as 
food  for  man  as  well  as  for  the  young  mammal  for 
which  it  was  by  nature  especially  prepared.  While 
there  are  many  things  about  milk  which  are  obvious 
enough,  there  are  many  other  things  which  are  not  so 
readily  apparent,  and  which  require  careful  observa- 
tion and  attention  to  become  acquainted  with.  Indeed, 
the  study  of  milk  is  a  long,  an(?,  in  many  respects,  a 


Milk.  I2J 

difficult  one ;  it  has,  so  far,  proved  too  difficult  not 
only  for  the  practical  man,  but  even  for  the  most 
critical  observer.  There  are  many  things  about  cow's 
milk  and  its  production,  with  which  we  are  all  in  some 
respects  so  familiar,  which  the  most  careful  students 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  explain  or  comprehend. 
There  are  so  many  things  in  regard  to  it  which  are 
still  unknown,  that  T  could  not  if  I  would,  make  a 
complete  account  of  it. 

In  this  little.work  I  shall  attempt  nothing  more  than 
to  point  to  suctt  facts  as  have  a  practical  bearing,  leav- 
ing a  more  full  and  minute  statement  to  some  other 
hands,  or  for  some  future  occasion. 

The  necessity  for  a  more  complete  knowledge  of 
milk  by  the  producer,  the  manufacturer,  the  scientist 
and  the  consumer,  is  fully  appreciated  by  the  writer, 
and  he  hopes  to  go  far  enough,  at  least,  to  awaken  an 
interest  that  will  inspire  an  enthusiasm  to  go  farther. 

That  the  varied  and  extensive  uses  of  milk  call  for 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  its  composition  and 
peculiar  qualities  by  the  parties  who  produce,  manu- 
facture, or  consume  it,  must  be  apparent.  Though 
one  may  learn  to  work  by  imitation,  or  by  following 
rules  which  the  experience  of  himself  or  others  may 
suggest,  and  meet  with  tolerable  success  ;  yet  it  must 
be  evident  that  a  full  and  complete  understanding  of 
all  that  relates  to  the  materials  to  be  dealt  with,  must 
give  the  operator  many  advantages  which  he  would 
not  otherwise  be  likely  to  make  available.  The  better, 
too,  the  value  of  milk  is  understood,  the  more  exten- 
sive will  be  its  consumption,  as  well  as  the  more  per- 
fect its  production  and  manufacture  ;  hence,  the  dairy- 
man should  labor  with  the  double  purpose  of  learning 
all  he  can  himself  and  communicating  all  the  kno^yl- 


12^  American  Dairying. 

edge  he  can  to  others,  with  a  view  to  a  deeper  interest 
in  the  whole  community,  and  a  wider  consumption  of 
his  products. 

To  the  milk  producer,  t^a^food  of  his  cow  is  his  raw 
material,  and  his  cows  the  machines  by  which  it  is 
manufactured  into  an  available  or  marketable  product. 
To  the  manufacturer,  milk  is  the  raw  material,  which 
is  to  be  wrought  into  a  new  product  for  increasing  its 
value  or  for  preservation,  by  means  of  his  own  labor 
and  skill.  The  producer,  therefore,  has  a  lesson  to 
learn  in  the  production  and  adaptation  of  his  raw 
material,  and  in  acquainting  himself  with  the  nature 
and  habits,  and  the  possibilities  of  his  living  machines, 
before  he  reaches  the  raw  material  of  the  manufac- 
turer. 

The  production  of  food  for  the  dairy  embraces  the 
soil  and  its  management,  and  its  adaptation  takes  in 
the  varieties  of  food  and  their  condition,  both  of  which 
have  been  previously  discussed  and  cannot  be  enlarged 
upon  here. 

Milk,  as  an  agricultural  and  commercial  product  in 
this  country,  is  derived  from  the  lactiferous  glands  of 
the  cow,  stimulated  into  activity  by  sympathy  with  an 
active  state  of  the  generative  organs  developed  in 
bringing  forth  her  young.  Milk  as  an  animal  secre- 
tion is  not,  however,  always  the  result  of  activity  of 
the  generative  function. 

A  moderate  milk  secretion  may  be  induced  in  the 
mammary  glands  by  manipulating  them  without  any 
reference  to  reproduction,  and  before  pregnancy 
occurs.  This  has  many  times  happened  with  heifers 
by  the  frequent  sucking  of  young  calves,  but  it  never 
occurs  in  quantity  sufficient  for  profitable  production, 
and  hence  need  not  be  specially  considered. 


Milk. 


125 


The  milk  of  all  animals  is  similarly  constituted, 
being  in  every  species  composed  of  the  same  class  of 
elements  but  in  different  proportions.  The  great  bulk 
of  them  all  is  water.  The  solids  in  all  arealike  made 
up  of  supporters  of  respiration — fat  and  sugar ;  of  flesh 
and  tissue  forming  material — caseine  and  albumen, 
and  of  such  mineral  matters  as  enter  into  the  bony 
structure. 

The  following  table  of  Henry  &  Chevellier,  quoted 
by  Johnston,  shows  how  these  elements  vary  in  some 
of  the  different  animals  : 


Caseine  (albuminoids) 

Butter 

Milk  Sugar 

Saline  matter 

Water 


WOMAN. 

cow. 

ASS, 

GOAT. 

1-52 

4.48 

1.82 

4.08 

3-55 

3-13 

O.II 

3-32 

6.50 

4-77 

6.08 

5.28 

0.45 

0.60 

0.34 

0.58 

87.98 

S7.02 

gi.68 

86.80 

EWE. 


4- 50 

4  20 
5.00 
0.68 

38.62 


This  table  is  supposed  to  show  the  constituents  of 
milk  from  the  different  animals  in  its  average  normal 
condition. 


ALBUMINOIDS  IN  MILK. 

In  cow's  milk  about  four-fifths  of  the  flesh-forming 
material  is  caseine  and  one-fifth  albumen  ;  the  former 
is  coagulable  with  rennet,  the  latter  is  not.  The  albu- 
men, however,  coagulates  when  heated,  if  the  milk  or 
whey  holding  it  is  acid.  The  relative  proportions  of 
caseine  and  albumen  vary  greatly  with  the  food  and 
health  of  the  cow.  Disease  of  any  kind,  especially 
when  of  a  debilitating  character,  increases  the  per 
cent,  of  albumen  and  diminishes  that  of  caseine. 

In  all  febrile  diseases  the  aggregate  of  albuminoids 
is  increased,  and  the  sugar  and  fat  diminished.     This 


126  American  Dairying, 

increase  of  albuminoids  is  occasioned  generally  by  an 
increase  of  albumen  rather  than  of  caseine.  I  have 
not  yet  found  caseine  to  increase  in  any  case  of  disease. 
The  largest  per  cents  of  caseine  have  occurred  when 
the  animal  has  been  full  fed  and  in  the  most  perfect 
and  vigorous  health,  and  in  active  habits  and  in  com- 
fortable condition.  The  per  cent,  of  albumen  is  then 
the  lowest.  Albumen  has  been  found  to  increase  in 
almost  every  abnormal  condition  of  the  cow.  Its 
increase  is  not  limited  to  absolute  disease,  but  it  occurs 
in  case  of  temporary  pain,  worrying,  fright,  solici- 
tude, grief,  or  insufficient  nutrition,  and  in  all  those 
slight  deviations  from  perfect  health  which  occasion 
tainted  milk,  caseine  diminishes  and  albumen  increases. 
The  following  analysis  wnll  give  an  illustration  of 
the  effect  upon  the  albuminoids  of  milk  by  a  slight 
deviation  of  health.  The  herd  of  cows,  fourteen  in 
number,  from  which  the  milk  came,  was  supported 
partly  by  grazing  upon  a  short  pasture  of  timothy  and 
clover,  partly  by  shorts  wet  with  water,  and  partly  by 
fodder  corn — all  good  food,  and  enough  of  it  to  pro- 
duce a  liberal  flow.  The  circumstances  which  affected 
their  health  were  exposure  to  hot  sunshine  in  a  pasture 
without  shade,  and  drinking  water  from  a  pond-hole. 
The  principal  cause  was  the  stagnant  water,  but  tests, 
several  times  repeated,  proved  that  the  effects  were 
aggravated  by  hot  sunshine.  The  following  analysis 
made  August  i8th,  1873,  is  similar  to  several  others 
made  about  the  same  time  : 

ONE  HUNDRED  PARTS  OF  MILK  GAVE 

Water 88. 50 

Butter 2.50 

Caseine  and   Albumen 6.25 

Sugar 2.00 

Ash 7$ 


Milk.  i2y 

At  that  season  of  the  year,  with  such  food  as  these 
cows  were  using,  their  milk,  if  in  perfect  health, 
should  show  in  loo  parts  : 

Water 87.00  to  87.35 

Caseine  and  Albuminoids 3.25  to     3. 50 

Butter 350  to     4.00 

Sugar 5.50  to     4. 50 

Ash .75  to      .65 

The  great  disproportion  between  the  albuminoids 
and  the  butter  and  sugar  in  the  milk  of  the  affected 
cows,  is  a  common  result  where  fever  and  debility 
exist,  as  they  did  in  this  case,  though  the  owner  had 
not  even  suspected  that  his  cows  were  at  all  affected. 

NotwithstaAding  the  very  large  amount  of  caseine 
and  albumen  when  weighed  together,  samples  of  the 
milk  when  curdled  with  rennet  gave  no  extra  results 
in  curd,  and  the  whey  when  scalded  with  a  little  vine- 
gar showed  an  abundance  of  albumen,  indicating  that 
the  unusual  per  cent,  of  nitrogenous  matter  was  albu- 
men rather  than  caseine. 

In  a  state  of  perfect  health  the  variations  in  the 
albuminous  matter  in  milk  do  not  appear  to  be  very 
great.  The  quantity  of  the  milk,  more  than  the  per 
cent,  of  the  nitrogenous  matter,  is  affected  when  such 
matter  is  largely  fed.  But  variations  in  the  nitroge- 
nous elements  of  the  food  affect  the  per  cent,  of  such 
elements  in  milk  within  certain  limits. 

In  conditions  of  perfect  health,  and  especially  in 
the  early  part  of  the  milking  season,  the  caseine  in 
milk,  as  well  as  other  nitrogenous  matter,  is  in  a  state 
of  complete  solution  and  colorless,  and  with  the  sugar 
and  mineral  matter,  is  in  chemical  union  with  the 
aqueous  portion  of  the  milk.  In  the  latter  stages  of 
milk  giving,  and  in  cases  of  inflammatory  disease,  I 


128  American  Dairying. 

have  found  the  caseine  in  a  solid  form  in  very  minute 
and  irregular  shaped  atoms,  whose  presence  gives  a 
deeper  opacity  to  the  milk.  These  atoms  are  some- 
times so  abundant  as  to  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the 
vessel  in  which  milk  stands  for  several  hours. 

FATS  IN  MILK. 

The  fats  in  milk  are  in  a  solid  state,  and  are  the 
only  solid  matter  usually  found  in  milk  ;  they  exist 
in  the  form  of  very  minute  globular  atoms  and  are 
known  as  butter  globules.     These  butter  globules,  or 

as  they  are  by  some  called 
the  milk  globules,  are  sus- 


pended in  the  liquid  mass 
and  float  about  in  it  freely, 
whitening  every  part  with 
their  presence.  They  ordi- 
narily appear  round,  or 
egg-shaped  in  form,  but  in 
size  they  are  very  unequal, 
varying  from  tsVtt  down  to 
^^^'  "•  TWIT  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

When  viewed  under  a  microscope  with  a  magnifying 
power  of  300  diameters,  newly  drawn  milk  has  the 
appearance  represented  in  the  annexed  figure. 

Upon  the  structure  and  treatment  of  these  infinites- 
simal  bodies,  depend  the  dairyman's  success  in  butter- 
making,  and  it  is  therefore  important  that  he  should 
be  as  familiar  with  them  as  possible.  A  clear  knowl- 
edge of  a  few  leading  facts  in  regard  to  them  will  be 
found  more  efficient  in  leading  to  desired  results,  than 
the  haphazard  labors  and  blind  imitations  of  rules 
made  by  parties  ignorant  of  the  structure  and  pro- 


Milk. 


I2g 


perties  of  the  things  they  are  handling,  though  the 
operators  may  boast  of  long  years  of  experience. 

Examining  milk  with  a  strong  magnifier  we  discover 
that  globules  of  fatty  matter,  of  unequal  dimensions, 
float  mechanically  in  the  watery  mass,  and  further 
investigation  has  shown  that  these  little  bodies,  minute 
as  they  are,  are  made  up  of  atoms  of  several  kinds  of 
fats,  in  a  state  of  combination  with  a  little  nitrogenous 
matter  and  water,  the  whole  enclosed  in  a  very  thin 
pellicle  of  membraneous  material.  If  the  reader  can 
imagine  that  the  little  circles  which  he  sees  in  figure 
12,  are  sectional  views  of  the  milk  globules,  they  being 
divided  through  the  center  as  one  would  cut  an  apple 
in  halves  with  a  knife,  the  black  lines  that  indicate 
their  circumference  will  represent  a  section  of  the 
pellicles  or  sacks,  and  the  interior  will  represent  the 
fats  which  they  enclose.  Now, let  him  bear  in  mind  that 
the  little  atoms  of  fatty  matter,  thus  enclosed,  are  com- 
posed of  white  and  yellow  fats,  and  several  varieties 
of  volatile  oils,  all  mingled  together,  and  that  the  real 
diameter  of  the  circles  is  only  a  three-hundredth  part  of 
their  size  as  represented  in  the  above  figure,  and 
he  will  have  something  near  a  correct  view  of  the 
size  and  structure  of  these  little  globules,  which  play 
such  an  important  part  in  dairy  husbandry,  and  which 
contribute  so  largely  to  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  in 
all  the  civilized  countries  of  the  world. 

The  fatty  matter  which  enters  into  the  composition 
of  these  butter  globules  consists  of  four  varieties. 
The  hardest  of  them  is  stearine,  which  when  separated, 
is  a  hard,  white,  flaky  appearing  fat.  The  second  in 
consistency  is  palmatine,  Avhich  resembles  palm  oil ; 
most  of  the  coloring  matter  in  butter  is  connected 
with  this  fat.     The  third  is  called  oleine,  from  its  thin. 


I  JO  American  Dairying. 

oily  consistency.  The  fourth  consists  of  essential  oils 
of  tlie  food  of  the  cow,  and  which,  probably,  are  as 
numerous  as  the  varieties  of  food  she  consumes. 
These  constitute  the  fats  of  which  butter  is  made. 
Their  origin  is  not  perfectly  clear ;  they  are  all  ulti- 
mately derived  from  the  food  of  the  cow,  but  how 
much  of  them  is  derived  directly  from  the  food,  and 
how  much  is  elaborated  in  the  body  of  the  animal  out 
of  other  elements  of  food,  is  not  well  established. 
Their  characteristics  change  with  the  condition  and 
quality  of  food,  and  with  the  constitutional  peculiari- 
ties of  cows.  The  fats  from  different  cows  living  on 
the  same  food,  are  often  quite  unlike,  and  in  the  same 
cow,  they  change  their  color  and  their  density  with 
the  variations  in  the  food  as  to  age,  succulence,  and 
•abundance  and  scarcity  of  fats  in  it.  Young  food 
generally  gives  a  higher  flavor  and  color  to  them, 
than  that  which  is  mature  or  approaching  maturity. 

When  in  combination  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
whole  is  about  940,  water  being  1,000.  The  several 
fats  when  separated,  have  not  any  fixed  standard  of 
specific  gravity.  The  essential  oils  which  enter  into 
the  composition  of  the  globules,  is  of  course,  very 
light;  the  solid  fats  vary  very  much  in  their  gravity. 
They  are  usually  heavier  in  the  following  order : 
stearine,  palmatine,  oleine,  but  I  have  seen  this  order 
reversed. 

Besides  the  fats  and  oils  enclosed  in  the  globular 
bodies  described,  the  liquid  mass  of  the  milk  is 
charged  with  numerous  oils,  so  light  and  volatile  as 
to  escape  easily  by  exposure  to  the  air,  or  by  raising 
the  temperature  of  the  milk.  These  give  flavor  to  the 
milk  and  its  products,  and  act  an  important  part  in 
the  digestion  of  the  milk  when  used  as  food,  and  also 


Milk.  iji 

in  varying  the  butter  and  cheese  made  from  the  milk 
that  contains  them.  Among  these  volatile  oils,  is 
the  one  imparting  the  animal  odor.  They  consist 
of  essential  oils  in  the  food  of  the  cow,  which  have 
not  entered  into  the  combination  of  fat  in  the  globules, 
but  remain  loosely  mingled  with  the  milk. 

SUGAR  OF  MILK. 

The  most  weighty  element  in  the  dry  solids  of  nor- 
mal milk  is  sugar;  it  constitutes  about  A  of  their 
weight.  When  separated  and  clarified  it  is  perfectly 
white  and  forms  into  very  hard  crystals,  much  harder 
than  those  of  cane  or  maple  sugar.  It  is  harder  than 
any  of  the  vegetable  sugars  and  has  less  saccharine 
flavor. 

The  sugar  of  milk  is  remarkable  for  its  very  low 
sweetening  power  and  for  its  stability.  It  is  said  when 
pure  to  undergo  no  ciiange  neither  in  a  crystalline  or 
liquid  state;  but  as  it  exists  in  milk  it  is  very  sus- 
ceptible to  change,  more  so,  probably,  than  any  other 
element  in  milk ;  by  absorbing  oxygen  it  is  with 
great  rapidity  and  ease  converted  into  lactic  acid  and 
is  thus  the  cause  of  the  sourness  of  milk.  The  rapid 
changes  in  milk  and  its  unstable  character,  are  due  to 
the  ease  with  which  this  sugar  ferments.  In  Switzer- 
land it  is  largely  separated  for  commercial  purposes, 
but  in  this  country  it  is  not  separated,  but  goes  as 
food  for  swine, 

SALINE  CONSTITUENTS  OF  MILK. 

Like  all  the  other  solids  in  milk  the  saline  constitu- 
ents are  very  variable,  ranging  from  two-tenths  to  one 
per  cent,  of  its  weight,  the  average  being  about  seventy 


IJ2  American  Dairying. 

to  seventy-five  hundredths  of  one  per  cent.  The  most 
prominent  ingredient  in  the  ash  of  milk  is  phosphate 
of  lime.  This  constitutes  about  one-half  of  the  whole 
ash.  The  next  largest  is  chloride  of  potassium,  which 
amounts  to  about  one-fourth  of  the  ash,  so  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  ash  of  milk,  or  thereabouts,  are  made 
up  of  these  two  minerals. 

A  cow  giving  4,000  pounds  of  milk  a  year,  exhausts 
the  soil  of  twenty-eight  to  thirty  pounds  of  mineral 
matter,  one-half  of  which  is  phosphate  of  lime,  and 
one-fourth  chloride  of  potassium.  The  rest  of  the 
ash  is  made  up  of  soda  and  chloride  of  sodium  and 
the  sulphates  of  iron  and  magnesia. 

Prof.  Jas.  F.  W.  Johnston  quotes  from  Haidlen  two 
analyses  of  the  ash  of  milk,  whicli  will  show  how  milk 
production  exhausts  the  soil  and  how  to  restore  the 
exhausted  minerals.     The  analyses  are  as  follows  : 

THE  ASH  OF  I,000  LBS.   GIVES  I.  2. 

Phosphate  of  lime 2.31  lbs.  3.44  lbs. 

Phosphate   of  magnesia 0.42    "  064    " 

Phosphate  of  peroxide  of  iron 0.07     "  0.07    " 

Chloride  of  potassium 1.44    "  1.83    " 

Chloride  of  sodium 0.24    "  0.34    " 

Free  soda 0.42    "  0.45     " 

MILK  SECRETION. 

As  the  form  of  a  tool  is  indicative  of  the  purpose  it 
was  made  to  serve,  so  the  anatomical  structure  of  an 
organ  in  an  animal  body  affords  an  evidence  of  the 
function  it  was  made  to  execute.  The  study  of  the 
udder  therefore  is  one  of  the  most  direct  and  efficient 
means  of  studying  the  way  in  which  the  secretion  of 
milk  is  effected.  I  shall  not  assume  the  task  of 
unraveling  all  the  mysteries  of  milk  secretion,  but 
having  given  some  attention  to  the  structure  of  the 


Milk.  ijj 

udder,  I  shall  venture  a  few  observations  descriptive 
of  that  organ,  in  hopes  that  what  has  proved  very 
interesting  to  nie,  may  at  least  afford  something  of 
interest  to  others. 

The  extraordinary  development  of  the  mammary 
glands  upon  the  domestic  cow,  is  to  a  large  extent, 
the  work  of  art,  since  nature  furnished  only  enough 
with  which  to  elaborate  food  for  the  offspring.  As  art 
does  not  always  use  precisely  the  same  means,  it  does 
not  always  lead  in  precisely  the  same  direction  with 
its  developments.  The  irregularity  of  art  shows  itself 
in  the  development  of  the  bovine  udder.  It  is  not 
always  uniform,  externally  nor  internally.  It  is  not 
only  different  upon  different  breeds  of  cows,  but  it 
varies  in  different  individuals  of  the  same  breed,  and 
the  corresponding  parts  of  the  same  udder  are  not 
always  uniform. 

For  the  sake  of  giving  actuality  to  the  description, 
I  will  describe  an  udder  taken  from  a  choice  six  year 
old  cow,  four  weeks  from  the  time  of  calving,  and  in 
as  good  a  condition  as  it  could  well  be  for  examination. 

Considered  as  a  whole  it  was  made  up  of  four  dis- 
tinct glands  or  lobes,  one  for  each  teat,  bound  together 
by  membraneous  tissue,  and  covered  by  a  pouch  of 
skin  in  which  it  seemed  to  be  suspended,  and  to  which 
it  was  snugly  bound  by  the  same  kind  of  tissue  which 
attached  the  lobes  together,  and  also  by  nerves,  blood 
vessels,  and  minute  tubes  and  tendons.  While  mem- 
braneous tissue  surrounds  the  whole,  each  lobe  has 
an  envelope  of  its  own,  which  is  attached  to  the  others 
where  it  comes  in  contact  with  them. 

An  arterial  branch  of  considerable  size  entered  each 
lobe,  and  also  several  smaller  ones,  the  origin  of 
which  was  not  traced,  by  which  each  quarter  was  sup- 


134^ 


Ahierican  Dairying. 


plied  with  blood.  So  far  as  traced,  the  arterial 
branches  were  neither  uniform  in  size  nor  in  their 
mode  of  division  nor  subdivision.  There  was  an  evi- 
dent difference  in  the  quantity  of  blood  supplied  to 
each  quarter  of  the  udder,  and  especially  between  the 
front  and  back  lobes,  and  also  between  the  two  back 


Fig.  13. 


lobes.  But  few  observations  were  made  upon  the 
venous  system  of  this  specimen.  The  lactiferous  ves- 
sels were  more  carefully  observed.  In  each  quarter 
of  the  udder  these  were  entirely  separated  from  each 
other,  and  in  each  were  differently  arranged. 


Milk.  7J5 

Beginning  at  the  lower  end  of  the  teats  we  have  an 
aperture  closed  by  an  elastic  band.  Proceeding  up 
the  teat,  we  have  in  it  a  cavity  enlarged  in  the  middle, 
when  injected,  as  seen  in  figure  13.  At  the  top  of 
three  of  the  teats  there  was  a  diaphragm  separating 
the  cavity  in  each  teat  from  a  little  larger  cavity  above 
it,  with  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  diaphragm  about 
the  size  of  a  pea.  The  cavities  above  the  teats  an- 
swered as  little  reservoirs  for  holding  milk.  That  over 
the  right  hand  teat,  when  distended,  was  about  the  size 
and  shape  of  a  turkey's  Q^'g  with  the  large  end  down. 
Those  of  the  front  teats  were  the  size  and  form  of  a 
hen's  ^gg.  Over  the  left  hind  teat  the  diaphragm  was 
wanting,  and  the  cavity  above  opened  directly  into 
that  of  the  teat  as  shown  in  figure  14. 

From  the  little  reservoirs 
at  the  top  of  the  teats  were 
tubes  running  in  different  di- 
rections through  each  gland, 
which  were  frequently  cut 
off  by  still  smaller  reservoirs 
distributed  all  through  each 
gland,  as  indicated  in  fig. 
12.  These  little  reservoirs 
were  more  abundant,  and 
larger  in  the  lower  and  outer  pig.  14. 

parts  of  each  lobe,  diminishing  in  size  and  frequency 
as  they  rose  toward  the  upper  part.  They  varied  in 
size  from  a  hickory  nut  to  a  pin  head.  There  was  but 
a  single  one  the  size  of  a  hickory  nut,  the  majority  of 
them  were  of  the  size  of  beans  or  peas  and  so  down, 
till  they  disappeared  in  the  upper  part  of  the  udder. 

The  tubes  which  connect  the  reservoirs  were,  some 
of  them,  larger  in  the  middle  than  toward  the  ends. 


136  American  Dairying. 

and  by  connecting  with  different  reservoirs,  anasto- 
mosed like  blood  vessels.  At  each  end  of  the  tubes, 
where  they  enter  and  where  they  leave  the  reservoirs, 
is  a  diaphragm  similar  to  those  at  the  top  of  the  teats, 
which  stretches  over  a  part  of  each  end  of  the  tube, 
leaving,  as  over  the  teats,  a  hole  in  the  middle.  The 
diaphragms  at  the  top  of  the  teats  and  at  the  ends  of 
the  lactiferous  tubes  are  all  alike  made  by  an  exten- 
sion of  the  mucous  membrane  lining  the  inside  of  the 
tube.  Where  it  doubles  over  to  form  the  edge  of  the 
aperture,  it  encloses  a  small  cord  which  swells  out  the 
folds  a  little,  giving  the  appearance  of  a  hem  running 
around  the  edge  of  the  aperture.  The  contraction  of 
this  cord  closes  the  aperture.  It  is  a  very  delicate 
thread.  It  is  made  up,  not  of  fleshy  fibers  like  ordi- 
nary muscle,  but  of  very  fine  elastic  fiber-like  spiders' 
webs,  so  fine  that  five  hundred  of  them  were  judged 
to  form  one  of  these  little  threads.  In  the  center  of 
the  udder  and  between  the  four  glands  is  a  large  and 
strong  tendon  leading  from  the  abdominal  muscles 
and  passing  down  between  the  four  glands  or  lobes, 
where  it  soon  divides  up  into  branches  like  the  brush 
of  broom  corn,  which  again  divides  and  subdivides  till 
the  threads  become  too  fine  to  follow  with  the  unaided 
eye. 

These  ramifications  connect  with  the  little  cords 
just  described  and  which  appear  to  be  terminations  of 
the  filaments  of  the  tendon  passing  around  the  aper- 
tures in  opposite  directions,  so  that  when  the  cow 
contracts  the  abdominal  muscles  by  drawing  up  her 
abdomen  as  she  always  does  when  she  holds  up 
her  milk,  she  pulls  on  these  ramifications  and  closes 
all  the  apertures  with  one  effort,  and  prevents  the 
milk    from    flowing.       It   is   in  this   way   that  cows 


Milk.  137 

hold  up  their  milk  at  will.  When  the  abdominal 
muscles  are  contracted  the  tubes  begin  to  close,  first 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  bag  where  the  apertures  in 
the  diaphragms  at  the  ends  of  the  tubes  are  very  small; 
a  more  vigorous  effort  closes  the  larger  ones  below, 
the  last  ones  to  close  because  the  largest  are  those  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  teats.  It  requires  a  powerful 
effort  to  draw  these  so  tight  that  milk  will  not  pass 
through  them,  but  when  much  disturbed,  there  are  but 
few  cows  which  are  not  able  to  close  them  perfectly. 

The  minute  filaments  of  this  central  tendon  have 
attachments  elseAvhere  than  in  the  fibrous  cords.  They 
fasten  all  through  the  udder  and  in  the  skin,  so  that  in 
holding  back  her  milk,  the  whole  udder  is  contracted 
and  held  firmly.  These  filamentary  divisions  were  so 
extremely  fine  and  difficult  to  trace  that  they  could 
only  be  followed  by  dissolving  away  the  soft  parts 
with  an  acid. 

In  each  quarter  of  the  udder  the  system  of  tubes 
were  found  to  divide  and  subdivide  each  in  a  different 
way,  so  that  when  dissected  out  they  were  as  unlike 
as  the  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  branches  of  so 
many  different  trees.  They  all  alike  start  from,  or 
empty  into,  the  reservoirs  over  the  teats,  but  the  num- 
ber of  tubes  starting  out  were  in  each  case  different 
and  differently  located.  Twenty- three  tubes  led  out 
of  the  reservoir  at  the  top  of  one  hind  teat,  and 
seventeen  out  of  the  other ;  twenty-one  started  from 
over  one  forward  teat,  from  the  other  side  the  num- 
ber was  less  and  differently  arranged,  showing  an 
independent  and  special  action  in  each  division  so  far 
as  secretions  were  concerned. 

The  bulk  of  the  udder  is  made  up  of  a  mass  of  cells 
and  vascular  membranes,  through  which  the  lactiferous 


138 


A  nierican  Dairying. 


tubes  penetrate.  In  the  up- 
per part  of  the  glands  where 
the  structure  was  less  dis- 
turbed with  reservoirs  than 
below,  the  arrangement  into 
lobules  was  quite  regular  as 
in  figure  15,  which  gives  a 
magnified  view. 

Into  these  lobules  the  lac- 
Fig.is.  tiferous   tubes    ramify    with 

great  minuteness  to  take  up  the 
milk  which  the  glands  secrete. 
Magnifying  one  of  these  lobulated 
divisions  till  the  ultimate  follicles 
could  be  seen,  we  have  a  view  as 
seen  in  figure  16.  The  follicles  are 
covered  with  a  membrane,  the  cells 
appearing  upon  the  inside  of  it 
from  which  they  seemed  to  eman- 
ate. The  investigations  and  opin- 
ions advanced  by  Dr.  E.  L.  Stur- 
tevant,  of  Mass.,  have  been  very 
fully  sustained  in  these  examina- 
tions of  the  ultimate  follicles  which 
at  twenty-eight  days  from  the  time 
the  cow  came  in  were  in  the  best 
possible  condition  for  studying. 
The  gland  cells,  as  he  suggests, 
appear  to  start  out  of  the  inside  of  the  membrane  like 
blisters,  whose  contents  are  fat.  Others  follow  behind 
them  in  succession,  crowding  them  along,  till  the  first 
formed  separate  and  are  shed  off  like  leaves  in  autumn, 
or  as  sucking  teeth  give  place  to  those  which  come 
after  them. 


Fig.  lb. 


Milk.  139 

The  liberated  cells,  completely  enveloping  a  speck 
of  fat,  find  their  way  out  of  the  follicle -through  the 
vascular  membrane  which  connects  it  with  the  minute 
terminations  of  the  lactiferous  tubes,  where  by  the 
aid  of  the  liquid  part  of  the  milk  they  are  worked 
along  through  the  system  of  tubes  and  reservoirs,  till 
they  pass  out  at  the  teat  in  the  form  of  what  are  dif- 
ferently known  as  milk  globules,  cream  globules,  fat 
globules,  and  butter  globules. 

When  not  filled  with  secretions  the  interior  cavities 
of  the  follicles  collapse  and  make  the  substance  of  the 
gland  appear  like  a  solid  mass,  but  when  cut  into  thin 
slices  and  highly  magnified,  it  appears  extremely  vas- 
cular and  exposes  a  great  extent  of  surface.  It  then 
appears  like  a  net  work,  or  sieve,  through  which 
liquids  could  pass  with  great  freedom.  The  secretion 
of  the  liquid  portion  of  the  milk  evidently  proceeds 
very  slowly,  but  the  vast  extent  of  surfaces  it  has  to 
exude  from,  enables  the  udder,  as  a  whole,  to  collect 
considerable  quantities  in  a  given  time 

That  the  milk  globules  were  once  gland  cells,  is 
corroborated,  first,  by  the  fact  that  they  have  the  same 
size  ;  this  w^as  demonstrated  by  Dr.  Sturtevant  by 
actual  measurement.  Second,  they  have  the  same 
form;  when  viewing  them  under  circumstances  which 
would  exhibit  their  exact  form,  I  have  found  them 
to  be  alike,  neither  of  them  being  exactly  round. 
Third,  the  covering  of  the  globule  is  a  membrane, 
and  not  caseine,  as  many  have  supposed ;  that  it  is  a 
membrane  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  when  treated 
with  nitrate  of  silver  the  globules  give  the  same 
reaction  which  is  given  by  other  membranes,  em- 
bracing fat,  (suet,)  turning  them  to  straw  color. 
Caseine,  when  treated  with  nitrate  of  silver  gives  a 


i'/ 


i4^o  A/ncrican  Dairying. 

different  reaction,  turning  black.  Fourth,  while  it  has 
been  supposed  by  some,  that  specks  of  fat  when  float- 
ing in  the  liquid  milk  in  which  albumen  and  caseine 
are  in  solution,  become  coated  over  with  solidified 
caseine  and  thus  derive  their  delicate  covering, 
others  have  supposed  that  the  minute  particles  of 
fit  become  incisted  while  in  the  blood  vessels,  and 
that  they  are  secreted  from  the  blood  ready  formed. 
The  fact  that  milk  globules  sometimes  exist  without 
containing  any  fat  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  both  of 
these  theories.  I  have  found  that  instances  occur 
in  which  a  part  of  the  milk  globules  contained  only 
serum  so  attenuated,  that  when  dried  down,  the  walls 
of  the  pellicle  enclosing  it  would  collapse  and  appear 
perfectly  flattened,  while  others  retained  their  rounded 
form,  showing  them  to  be  filled  with  fat.  In  an  extreme 
case  the  milk  of  a  cow  which  would  not  make  butter, 
had  part  of  its  globules  filled  with  fat  so  that  they 
remained  round  when  dried,  others  with  various 
degrees  of  depression,  but  fully  one-half  appeared  to 
contain  no  fat  at  all,  as  they  were  perfectly  flattened 
by  drying.  In  several  cases  the  pellicles  covering  the 
serum  became  adherent  and  shrunk  and  tore  apart  in 
the  middle  from  the  edges  sticking  to 
the  glass,  showing  various  fractures. 
An  enlarged  view  of  one  of  these  frac- 
tures is  shown  in  figure  17. 

By    examining    milk    with    the    early 
Fig.i'j.  morning  sun   and  turning  the  reflector 

so  that  the  globules  would  cast  no  shadow,  I  have 
been  able  to  use  a  stronger  light  and  get  better  views 
than  I  could  with  the  mid- day  light.  Under  this  mode 
of  inspecting,  several  cases  have  been  met  with  in 
which  a  part  of  the  globules   showed   no  fat,  while 


Milk. 


141 


others  showed  to  be  part  full,  and  the  great  bulk  of 
them  entirely  full  of  fat.  Though  the  gland  cells  of 
the  udder  are  generally  filled  with  fat,  it  would  seem 
a  very  easy  matter  for  some  of  them,  under  peculiar 
circumstances,  to  form  without  fat,  and  hence  account 
for  the  occurrence  of  fatless  globules  in  milk  if  the 
cells  at  length  become  globules,  and  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  account  for  them  in  any  other  way. 

COLUSTRUM. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  period  of  gestation,  by 
reason  of  a  sympathetic  influence  exerted  upon  the 
udder,  the  blood  vessels  leading  to  and  from  it  begin 
to  enlarge,  and  the  circulation  in  it  to  become  more 
active,  and  assimilation  more  rapid,  its  whole  struc- 
ture becomes  increased  in  size,  and  its  vessels  engorged 
with  blood.  The  result 
of  this  unusual  activity 
is  increased  heat,  and 
presently  the  formation 
of  gland  cells.  These 
begin  to  form  in  the 
follicles,  to  the  sides  of 
which  they  remain  at- 
tached, as  in  A,  fig.  18. 

At  birth,  or  a  little 
before,  the  liquid  part 
of  milk  begins  to  be 
secreted,  holding  sugar, 
caseine,    albumen,    and  ^  Fisr.is.        a 

certain  mineral  matters  in  solution,  and  to  accu- 
mulate in  the  udder,  when  the  gland  cells  begin  to 
shed  off,  sparingly  in  heifers,  but  more  freely  in  older 
cows.     At  first  the  cells  appear  to  break  off  very  fre- 


14-2 


American  Dairying. 


quently  in  clusters,  peeling  off  some  of  the  membrane 
of  the  follicle  with  them,  as  shown  in  figures  19  and 
20,  which  2.TQ  fac  similes  of  the  first  milking  of  the  cow 
whose  udder  has  just  been  described.  They  were 
drawn  by  the  aid  of  a  camera  and  accurately  engraved ; 
they  show  some  large  and  many  irregular  pieces  of 
membrane,  with   more  or  less  cells  attached,  which, 


Fig.  iq. 
COLUSTRUM. 

from  the  feverish  condition  of  the  bag  at  that  season, 
sloughed  off  with  the  cells  before  they  fully  became 
milk  globules.  As  the  inflammation  abates  and  the 
action  becomes  more  regular,  the  membrane  disap- 
pears, and  the  cells  only  are  mingled  in  the  milk. 
When  these  clusters  no  longer  appear,  the  milk  is  con- 
sidered fit  for  human  use,  or  for  manufacture  into  but- 
ter or  cheese.      Some   dairvmen  are  in  the  habit  of 


Milk. 


H3 


saving  the  fifth  milking ;  it  is  sometimes  good,  but 
oftener  not.  I  give  an  illustration  of  the  fifth  milking 
of  this  cow,  fig.  21,  which  seemed  to  be  full  as  well  as 
cows  generally  are  at  this  time,  in  which  specks  of 
colustrum  are  seen.  It  often  requires  five  or  six,  or 
more  days,  before  they  entirely  disappear,  according  to 
the  health  of  the  cow  and  the  extent  of  inflammation  in 


Fig.  20. 
COLUSTRUM. 

the  udder.  When  the  milk  will  boil  without  curding,  it 
may  be  regarded  as  fit  for  use.  This  is  an  efficient  and 
convenient  test  of  fitness  for  use. 

The  analyses  of  colustrum  vary  very  widely  in  their 
per  cents  of  fat  as  well  as  other  elements  These  dif- 
ferences are  doubtless  owing  more  to  the  particular 
condition  of  the  udder  at  the  time  of  coming  in,  than 
to  any  other  cause. 


lU 


A  merican  Dairying. 


The  treatment  of  the  cow,  at  and  previous  to  the 
birth  of  her  offspring,  has  very  much  to  do  with  the 
condition  of  her  udder  and  the  quality  of  her  first 
milk.  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  an  abundance 
of  fat  in  the  blood,  stimulates  the  formation  and  mul- 
tiplication of  gland  cellvS,  and  hence  milk  globules, 
and  that  a  paucity  of  fat  diminishes  the  extent  of  their 


Fig.    21. 
FIFTH    MILKING. 

formation.  It  has  been  my  observation  for  years,  that 
where  cows  are  fed  chiefly  on  unstimulating  and  flesh- 
forming  food  before  coming  in,  such  as  clover  hay,_ 
pea  meal,  bran  or  shorts,  the  bag  remains  pliable  and 
soft,  and  if  the  milk  is  drawn  out  in  season,  there  is 
not  a  very  wide  difference  between  the  first  milk  and 
that  which  comes  afterward.  But  if  corn  meal,  oil 
meal,  cotton  seed  meal,  or  other  food,  very  rich  in  fat, 


Milk,  145 

enters  freely  into  the  diet  of  cows  before  calving,  their 
bags  swell  up  to  a  very  large  size  and  are  hard  and 
inflamed,  the  follicles  become  distended  as  in  B,  figure 
18,  because  of  the  greatly  increased  number  of  cells 
which  the  rich  food  has  stimulated  while  they  are  still 
adhering,  and  they  become  hard  and  inflamed,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  reduce  the  inflammation  afterward ;  the 
colustrum  is  high  colored  and  thick,  and  full  of  cells 
with  pieces  of  membrane  attached,  and  they  continue 
in  the  milk  for  a  long  time.  It  is  not  very  uncommon 
for  cases  of  garget,  which  ruin  a  part  or  the  whole  of 
the  udder,  to  follow  high  feeding  with  food  too  rich  in 
fat,  before  cows  come  in,  especially  in  young  heifers. 
The  feed  before  coming  in  should  be  generous  and 
nutritious,  but  it  should  abound  in  flesh-forming 
rather  than  in  fat-forming  elements.  Early  cut  clover 
is  one  of  the  best  things  I  have  fed  at  such  times,  and 
corn  meal  and  oil  meal  have  proved  the  most  danger- 
ous. After  cows  have  been  in  milk  awhile  and  their 
bags  have  become  reduced,  corn  meal  and  similar  food 
may  be  fed  with  altogether  diff"erent  results.  The 
fat  then  goes  rapidly  into  the  milk,  avoiding  the 
accumulation  of  cells  in  the  udder  and  the  inflamrna- 
tion  which  would  otherwise  follow.  Previous  to  birth 
the  same  food  would  accumulate  fat  in  the  gland  cells, 
swelling  out  and  crowding  the  follicles  as  at  B,  in 
figure  18,  because  at  this  time  the  cells,  though  form- 
ing rapidly,  are  not  shed. 

CHANGES  IN  THE  QUALITY  OF  MILK. 

Colustrum  is  the  result,  in  part,  of  inflammation  in 
the  udder,  and  may  occur  at  any  time  during  the  milk- 
ing season,  but  is  less  likely  to  occur  in  the  later  than 
in    the   earlier   stages    of  giving    milk.      When    after 


i-J-6  Ainericaft  Dairying, 

parturition  the  inflammation  has  died  away  and  the 
globules  float  singly  and  freely  in  the  milk,  it  may 
then  be  said  to  have  assumed  its  normal  condition; 
but  the  quality  of  milk  does  not  remain  stationary, 
it  is  constantly  varying  from  the  time  a  cow  comes  in 
till  the  milk  ceases  to  flow.  At  first,  or  so  long  as  the 
quantity  continues  to  increase,  as  it  usually  does  for  a 
few  weeks  after  coming  in,  the  per  cent,  of  water 
increases,  and  that  of  cream  and  caseine  diminishes, 
though  the  aggregate  products  are,  by  reason  of  the 
increased  quantity,  constantly  enlarging.  When  the 
flow  begins  to  diminish,  the  quality  begins  to  improve, 
and  it  continues  to  grow  richer  till  near  the  close  of 
the  milking  season,  when  it  again  begins  to  depreciate, 
when  the  cow  dries  up  before  coming  in  again.  The 
globules  vary  in  size,  diminishing  as  the  distance  from 
the  time  of  calving  increases,  or  rather  as  the  amount 
of  secretion  diminishes,  for  if  by  an  abundance  of  rich 
food  the  flow  can  be  kept  up,  the  globules  may  retain 
their  size. 

The  quality  of  milk  varies  with  the  quality  and  sup- 
ply of  food  ;  if  it  is  very  succulent  the  water  increases 
in  the  milk,  but  the  increase  of  water  cannot  go 
beyond  a  certain  limit,  90.5  water  and  9.5  solids  is  the 
extreme  limit  I  have  met  with  by  succulence  and 
moisture  in  the  food.  On  the  other  hand,  by  the  use 
of  food  rich  in  the  elements  of  milk  and  other  circum- 
stances  favorable,  the  extreme  limit  in  the  opposite 
direction  has  been  81.5  water  and  18.5  solids.  The 
former  occurred  in  June,  with  a  feed  of  grass  and 
brewer's  grains,  the  latter  in  the  fall  with  after  feed 
and  meal. 

The  aggregate  results  of  cheese  and  butter  factories 
demonstrate  this   rule  on  a  larQ:e  scale.     When  cows 


Milk. 


H7 


come  in  in  the  spring,  the  product,  whether  butter  or 
cheese,  from  i,ooo  pounds  of  milk,  varies  during  the 
season,  as  indicated  by  the  following  tables  which  are 
the  result  of  different  factories  in  different  years  : 

Two  factories,  reported  in  1868,  by  Asahel  Burnham, 
of  Sinclearville,  Chautauqua  Co.,  N.  Y. 


1868. 


May 

June 

July 

August. . . 
September 
October. . . 


MILK. 


227,276 

481,648 
529,406 
398.2S5 
232,840 
100,132 


CHEESE. 


24,058 
49,919 
50.444 
39.903 
26,762 
12,481 


NO.  LBS.    AULK 

FOR 

I  OF  CHEESE. 


9-44 

9-65 
10.49 

9.98 

8.70 
8.02 


1868. 

May 

June 

July 

August , 

September 

October 


MILK. 


311,101 
616,791 
633,082 
472.619 
323.603 
126,895 


CHEESE. 


32,551 
63,867 
60,712 
47,769 

37,333 
16,116 


NO.  LBS.    MILK 

FOR 
I  OF  CHEESE. 


9-55 
9.66 
10.42 
9.89 
8.72 
7.86 


Cold  Spring  Factory,   Whitewater,   Wis.,  in   1870, 
reported  by  R.  Wheeler. 


1870, 

AprU 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 


NO.  LBS. 

NO.     LBS. 

NO.    LBS.    MILK 

MILK 

CHEESE 

TO  I  LB. 

RECEIVED. 

MADE. 

CHEESE. 

8,811 

850 

10.36 

53,417 

5.650 

9-45 

75,010 

7.740 

9.69 

79,251 

7,960 

9-95 

70,788 

7.164 

9.88 

59,113 

6,127 

9.64 

41,237 

5,032 

8.29 

4,297 

5S8 

7-30 

14-8 


A  m  erica  ?t  Da  iry  ing. 


Brook's  Creamery,   Little  Valley,  Cattaraugus  Co., 
N.  Y.  for  187 1,  reported  in  the  Live  Stock  /our?ial : 


1871. 


May. . . 
June.  . . 
July... 
August. 


LBS. 
MILK. 


106,431 
298,263 
264,652 
168,948 


LBS.  OF 
PRODUCT. 


11,124 

32,399 
27.567 

17,584 


LBL.  OF  MILK 
FOR  I  OI^ 
PROnuCT. 


9567 
9.206 
9.960 
g.609 


The  Sulphur  Spring  Factory,  Lowville,  Lewis  Co., 
N.  Y.,  as  reported  by  C.  L.  Sheldon,  for  1871,  shows 
the  following  in  the  different  months : 


1871. 


May 

June 

July 

August. .  . 
September. 
October. . . 


LBS. 
MILK. 


245.790 
390,796 
328,994 
227,396 

175.590 
132,141 


LBS. 
CHEESE. 


25,466 
39,784 
31,935 

22,408 

19,954 
15,466 


LBS.  MI'kFOR 

I  LB.  CURED 

CHEESE. 


9.651 
9.S22 
10.301 
10.147 
9.215 
8.543 


The  factory  of  J.   D.   Ives,  in   Norway,   N.   Y.,  as 
reported  by  B.  B.  Moon,  maker,  for  1872 


1872. 


March 

April. .... 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September. . .  . 
Oct.  to  Nov.  g. 
Nov.  10  to  Dec. 


14 


POUNDS 

POUNDS 

LBS.  MILK 

OF 

OF 

TO  I  LB. 

MILK. 

CHEESE. 

CHEESE. 

32,479 

2,668 

11-73 

123,611 

11,288 

10.95 

306,737 

31,493 

9.42 

502,910 

52,256 

9-63 

477,246 

48,126 

9.91 

396,862 

41,620 

9-53 

340,339 

37,890 

8.98 

305,026 

36,184 

8.52 

52,017 

6,404 

8.12 

Skim  milk. 

One  mess  skimmed. 

Whole  milk. 

do 

do 

do 

do 
One  mess  skimmed, 
do  do 


The  variations  of  milk  through  the  season  are  dif- 
ferent, according  to  the  condition  and  feed  of  the 
cows.     The  milk  of  cows   having  insufficient  food  or 


Milk.  7^p 

of  poor  quality,  not  only  give  less  milk,  but  what 
they  do  give  is  poorer  in  quality  than  the  milk  of 
cows  well  fed.  The  difference  in  quality  caused  by 
difference  in  feed,  is  much  wider  than  dairymen  are 
apt  to  suspect,  and  it  often  amounts  to  great  injustice 
in  the  division  of  the  proceeds  of  factories. 

In  testing  the  milk  of  the  different  patrons  of  a 
factory  by  curding  equal  weights  of  their  milk,  and 
drying  and  weighing  the  curd,  I  have  found  the  milk 
from  one  dairy  to  make  27  per  cent,  more  curd  than 
the  same  quantity  of  milk  from  another  dairy  delivered 
the  same  day,  both  being  sound  and  pure. 

Ten  to  fifteen  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  milk  for 
cheese  making  is  a  very  common  difference  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  season,  a  difference  due  wholly  to 
quality  and  supply  of  feed.  The  wide  variations 
which  occur  from  this  cause  should  be  more  carefully 
studied  by  dairymen,  and  some  more  exact  mode  of 
apportioning  the  proceeds  of  factories  be  devised. 
The  least  injury  done  to  the  patrons  by  way  of  water- 
ing milk  or  skimming,  or  saving  out  strippings,  will 
receive  the  most  prompt  attention  and  punishment, 
whenever  detected,  and  a  most  watchful  care  is  always 
on  the  alert  to  guard  against  unjust  loss  in  any  of 
these  ways ;  but  one  patron  may  bring  milk  which 
will  make  fifteen  per  cent,  less  cheese  than  that  of 
another,  and  yet  they  divide  equally  and  without  com- 
plaint or  suspicion  of  anything  wrong.  If  the  present 
inequality  in  the  value  of  milk,  especially  for  cheese- 
making  were  fully  understood,  it  would  not  long  be 
tolerated.  The  remedy  is  easy  as  Avill  be  shown  in 
another  place. 

Other  circumstances  than  those  of  feed  affect  the 
quality  of  milk  ;  pregnancy  is  one   of  these  circum- 


/iO 


A  incrican  Dairying, 


stances.  Of  two  cows  giving  milk  alike  at  the  start 
and  continuing  alike  in  respect  to  food  and  other  con- 
ditions, except  that  one  becomes  pregnant  and  the 
other  not,  the  one  becoming  with  calf  will  soon  begin 
to  fail  in  the  quality  of  her  milk  as  compared  with  the 
farrow  cow,  and  the  further  advanced  in  the  period  of 
gestation,  the  wider  will  be  the  difference  in  their  milk. 
The  milk  of  spayed  cows  is  least  affected  by  distance 
from  the  time  of  coming  in.  But  whatever  may  be 
the  situation  of  the  cow,  her  milk  will  fail  after  a  time. 
In  a  few  exceptional  cases,  cows  continue  to  give  milk 
continually  for  a  series  of  years,  whether  breeding  or 
not. 

The  milk  producing  function  is  brought  into  activity 
from  an  extraordinary  amount  of  blood  driven  into 
the  udder  by  an  enlargement  of  the  arteries  leading  to 
it,  the  enlargement  being  occasioned  by  a  sympathetic 
influence  from  the  active  state  of  the  reproductive 
organs.  The  increased  size  of  the  arteries  being  due 
to  certain  conditions,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that 
when  the  conditions  have  ceased  to  exist,  the  arteries 
would  gradually  fall  back  to  their  former  size  and 
activity,  or  nearly  so,  and  this  they  do  unless  means 
are  used  to  prolong  their  expansion  and  activity.  As 
time  advances,  the  stimulus  being  removed,  the 
arteries  by  degrees  diminish  in  size,  and  the  supply  of 
blood  to  the  udder  becomes  less  and  less,  till  finally,  it 
falls  back  to  its  normal  standard,  and  the  flow  of  milk 
keeps  pace  with  this  influx  of  blood,  and  the  cow 
dries  of  her  milk  when  the  extra  influx  ceases. 

But  the  contraction  of  the  arteries  leading  to  the 
udder  is  in  a  measure  under  the  control  of  the  dairy- 
man ;  he  can  retard  or  hasten  it  at  will.  By  causing 
the  milk  to  be  frequently  removed  from  the  udder  he 


Milk.  I  SI 

creates,  as  it  were,  a  vacuum  into  which  the  pressure  of 
blood  in  the  arteries  drives  forward  the  newly  forming 
milk  to  fill.  The  reaction  of  pressure  in  the  milk 
tubes  upon  the  arteries  which  supply  the  blood  from 
which  to  elaborate  milk  to  fill  them  when  exhausted, 
is  both  direct  and  large.  So  directly  are  the  milk 
tubes  and  arteries  connected,  that  by  injecting  one- 
quarter  of  an  udder  with  water  and  subjecting  it  to 
strong  hydrostatic  pressure,  I  have  been  able  to  drive 
water  through  the  milk  tubes  into  the  arteries  so 
rapidly  as  to  make  it  drip  in  a  stream  from  the  main 
artery  supplying  that  quarter  of  the  bag  with  blood. 
The  direct  effect  of  relieving  or  not  relieving  the  milk 
tubes  of  their  contents  is  to  hasten  or  retard  the  pas- 
sage of  blood  toward  the  udder,  keeping  up  their 
expansion  by  an  active  passage  of  blood  in  one  case, 
and  allowing  of  contraction  in  the  other,  by  retarding 
the  motion  and  diminishing  the  quantity  of  blood 
passing  through  them. 

Frequent,  perfect,  and  regular  milking  is,  therefore, 
a  very  efficient  means  of  promoting  the  flow  of  milk 
and  preventing  change  in  its  quality,  for  so  long  as  a 
large  flow  can  be  maintained  so  long  will  it  maintain 
its  earlier  characteristics. 

The  secretion  of  milk  has  a  tendency  to  diminish 
the  volume  of  blood  by  drawing  both  upon  its  liquid 
and  solid  elements.  To  keep  up  a  flow  of  milk,  this 
draft  must  be  supplied  by  furnishing  enough  to  restore 
the  steady  waste.  A  failure  to  do  this  for  any  con- 
siderable time,  is  not  only  to  decrease  the  yield  of  milk 
during  the  lack  of  food,  but  to  invite  a  hurried  con- 
traction of  the  blood  vessels  connected  with  the  udder. 
These  once  reduced,  there  is  no  enlarging  them  again 
till  the  occasion  of  another  birth,  and  the  supply  of 


1^2  American  Dairying. 

blood  for  making  milk  will  be  diminished  to  their 
reduced  capacity,  keeping  down  the  flow  permanently 
and  shortening  the  time  of  its  final  cessation. 

Immense  losses  are  sustained  every  year  by  dairymen 
from  not  comprehending  this  fact  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness. A  lack  of  feed  in  the  midsummer  drought  w^here 
shrinking  has  already  begun,  hurries  the  shrinking 
along;  lasting  several  weeks,  the  reduction  becomes 
permanent,  and  must  remain  the  rest  of  the  season. 
No  after  feeding  can  restore  the  former  activity  of  the 
glands,  for  the  vessels  supplying  them  Avith  blood 
have  become  reduced.  The  great  value  of  soiling, 
when  grass  fails,  lies  in  keeping  up  and  prolonging 
the  action  of  the  mammary  glands.  The  dairyman 
who  appreciates  this  will  never  let  his  milch  cows  lack 
for  food  or  drink. 

An  instance  will  illustrate  the  effect  of  a  defective 
supply  of  food  upon  the  milk-secreting  vessels.  In 
visiting  the  farm  of  the  Hon.  Harris  Lewis,  in  the  fall 
of  1873,  I  found  his  cows,  after  the  severe  drought  of 
that  summer,  giving  an  average  of  twenty-two  pounds 
of  milk  a  day;  his  heifers  and  farrow  cows  giving 
thirteen  pounds  a  day,  and  his  other  cows  twenty- four 
pounds  each.  Though  the  rains  had  come  and  the 
grass  had  revived,  the  average  at  the  factories  around 
him,  where  soiling  had  not  been  adopted,  was  thirteen 
pounds  to  the  cow^ust  equal  to  Mr.  L.'s  heifers  and 
farrow  cows.  The  soiling  more  than  paid  for  the  cost 
in  the  dry  season,  and  in  the  fall  the  large  yield  gave 
larger  profits.  But  many  dairymen  complained  that 
year  that  their  cows  did  not  pay  for  their  keeping. 
The  reader  may  possibly  see  why. 

Variations  in  the  quality  of  milk  during  the  main 
part  of  the   milking  season  are  gradual,  and  for  the 


Milk, 


153 


most  part  can  only  be  noticed  by  comparing  milk  at 
periods  remote  from  each  other.  When  such  com- 
parisons are  made  it  will  be  found  that  the  liquid  part 
of  the  milk  becomes  less  and  less  transparent,  till 
toward  the  close  of  a  long  period  of  milk-giving,  it 
becomes  only  translucent,  and  more  or  less  of  the 
caseine  becomes  solid  and  remains  in  minute  particles 


Fig.  22. 


suspended  in  the  liquid  like  milk  globules,  but  which 
upon  standing,  tend  downward  instead  of  upward. 
Opacity  is  also  increased  by  a  change  in  the  condition 
of  the  fats  and  sugar.  A  part  of  the  fats  and  probably 
the  sugar,  appear  as  glycerides,  preventing  the  forma- 
tion of  the  butter.  At  this  time  it  assumes  a  some- 
what gelatinous  appearance,  and  something  of  an 
elastic  consistency,  so  that  it    does    not   spread  well 


757  American  Dairying. 

upon  the  glass,  but  draws  itself  up  into  bunches,  as  in 
figure  22,  which  is  a  view  of  milk  near  the  time  of 
drying  up,  and  which  would  not  make  butter.  The 
globules  were  scanty  and  very  small.  Though  perfectly 
sweet  when  freshly  drawn,  it  contained  many  particles 
of  solid  caseine,  and  was  full  of  cloudy  streaks,  more 
or  less  dark,  but  not  so  dark  as  the  figure  indicates. 

The  quality  of  milk  is  affected  by  the  frequency  or 
remoteness  of  the  times  of  milking.  In  trials  of  milk- 
ing once,  twice,  three  times  and  five  times  a  day,  the 
most  frequent  milking  gave  the  richest  milk.  Milk- 
ing every  twelve  hours,  gave  12^  per  cent,  cream; 
milking  once  in  three  hours,  gave  17^^  per  cent. 

The  difference  in  the  quality  which  may  sometimes 
be  observed  between  the  morning's  and  evening's 
mess,  is  chiefly  due  to  unequal  distance  of  time 
between  milking — the  milk  being  richer  at  night 
when  the  days  are  short,  and  richer  in  the  morning 
when  the  nights  are  short.  When  the  times  between 
milkings  are  equal,  the  yield  and  quality  have  proved 
to  be  similar.  A  difference  sometimes  occurs  where 
cows  are  more  comfortable  and  quiet  during  the  night 
than  during  the  day,  or  the  reverse,  as  when  suffering 
by  cold  in  winter,  or  by  flies  in  summer,  when  more 
and  richer  milk  follows  the  greater  comfort. 

There  is  a  well  known  difference  between  the  first 
and  last  part  of  a  milking.  This  is  generally  but 
erroneously  supposed  to  be  due  to  the  rising  of  the 
richer  part  of  the  milk  to  the  top  of  the  udder  ;  but  no 
such  circumstance  could  occur.  All  the  motion  milk  is 
susceptible  of  in  the  udder,  is  from  the  follicles  forward 
towards  the  teats.  It  can  not  possibly  move  from  the 
teats  backward  toward  the  follicles  or  ramification  of 
the  lactiferous  tubes.     As  has  been  already  mentioned 


Milk.  IS5 

the  ends  of  the  milk  tubes,  where  they  connect  with 
the  little  reservoirs,  are  capped  with  diaphragms. 
These,  except  at  milking  time,  are  kept  constantly 
closed,  so  that  milk,  as  it  comes  from  the  extremities 
of  the  tubes,  can  only  pass  into  the  reservoirs  with 
which  they  connect,  by  being  pushed  along  by  the  milk 
that  is  forming  behind  it.  The  theory,  therefore,  that 
cream  rises  in  the  udder  must  be  entirely  fallacious. 
It  is  confuted  also  by  the  fact  that  woman's  milk,  in 
this  respect,  exhibits  the  same  peculiarity  as  cow's 
milk,  the  last  being  the  richest ;  but  if  the  cream  could 
rise  in  the  gland  the  last  ought  to  be  the  poorest. 

The  difference  between  the  first  and  last  part  of  a 
milking  must  have  some  other  origin  than  that  of  the 
separation  of  the  cream  by  rising. 

In  the  udder  which  has  been  described,  the  gland 
cells  in  the  upper  "part  were  larger  than  those  in  the 
lower  part,  indicating  that  the  richest  part  of  the  milk 
was  secreted  there,  and  as  this  would  naturally  be  the 
last  to  come  out,  it  would  seem  to  account,  in  part  at 
least,  for  the  greater  richness  of  the  last  part  of  the 
milking ;  but  as  no  other  udder  has,  that  I  am  aware 
of,  been  examined  with  reference  to  this  difference  in 
its  cells,  it  would  be  unsafe  to  make  a  general  infer- 
ence from  this  one  case,  though  it  is  quite  likely  a 
general  fact. 

Again,  milk  loses  in  quality  by  absorption  while 
lying  in  the  udder.  That  milk  loses  considerable 
from  this  cause,  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  when  the 
flow  is  small  it  is  all  taken  up  in  this  way.  Judging 
from  the  rough  and  jagged  appearance  of  the  globules 
which  have  lain  long  in  the  bag,  the  cream,  especially, 
appears  to  suffer,  but  just  to  what  extent  it  loses  in 
this  way,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 


/j^  American  Dairying. 

Thirdly,  it  must  be  evident  that  the  milk  globules, 
being  solids,  would  meet  with  more  resistance  and 
make  less  progress,  in  passing  through  fine  tubes, 
whose  sides  collapse,  or  lie  against  each  other,  than 
the  purely  liquid  part  of  the  milk  would,  and  hence 
that  they  would  fall  behind  the  liquid  portions  of  the 
milk  in  their  journeys  toward  the  teats.  The  larger 
globules  would  meet  with  more  resistance  and  come 
forward  slower  than  the  smaller  ones,  and  hence  come 
out  last,  making  the  last  part  of  a  mess  the  best  as  well 
as  the  richest.  Dr.  Sturtevant  thinks  this  cause  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  all  the  difference  between  the  first 
and  last  part  of  the  milking,  and  it  certainly  could  not 
fail  to  make  a  very  wide  difference. 

MILK  AFFECTED  BY  BREED. 

It  is  rare,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  two  cows  in  any 
herd  whose  milk  will  be  exactly  alike.  Each  animal 
has  a  constitution  peculiar  to  itself,  and  the  milk 
secretion  is  moulded,  in  each  case,  by  that  constitution. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  all  the  elements  of  milk 
are  modified  by  the  constitutional  peculiarities  of  the 
case,  but  observations  have  yet  been  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  the  fats,  and  these  even  have  been  but  lit- 
tle investigated.  Cows  having  similar  constitutions 
give  milk  similar  in  quality,  hence  the  milk  of  a  breed 
has  an  approximate  uniformity  in  its  characteristics. 
Thus  in  the  milk  of  Jersey  and  Devon  cows  generally, 
the  fat  is  deeply  colored  and  abundant,  and  the 
globules  are  very  large  and  comparatively  uniform  in 
size.  Figure  23  is  an  illustration  of  average  Jersey 
milk,  in  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  globules  are 
large  with  but  few  small  ones. 


Milk, 


^57 


Dr.  Sturtevant  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the 
size  of  butter  globules  in  different  breeds,  and  to  him 
I  am  indebted  for  figures  23,  24  and  25. 


Fig.   23. 


Fig.  24. 


The  flavor  of  Jersey  butter  is  as  characteristic  as 
the  appearance  of  its  butter  globules,  and  that  of  the 
Devon s  scarcely  less  so.  In  the  milk  of  Ayrshire 
cows  the  globules  are  smaller,  and  in  size  unequal,  a 
circumstance  which  is  also  quite  common  in  the  milk 
of  native  cows.  For  view  of 
Ayrshire  milk,  see  figure  24. 
For  view  of  Holstein  or 
Dutch  milk,  see  figure  25,  in 
which  the  globules  are  small 
and  remarkably  even  in  size, 
a  striking  peculiarity  in  the 
milk  of  the  Dutch  cow.  The 
butter  from  this  breed  of 
cows  has  specific  qualities ;  Fig.  25. 

it  is  neither  high  flavored  nor  high  colored,  but  is  of 
good  quality  and  remarkable  for  its  long  keeping. 
The  milk  of  this  breed  is  well  stored  with  fat,  and  is 
the  richest  in  cheesy  matter  of  any  I  have  examined. 


75 <?  American  Dairying. 

The  milk  of  Shorthorn  cows  somewhat  resembles 
that  of  the  Dutch,  but  the  globules  are  larger  and  not 
so  uniform  in  size  or  quality.  The  milk  of  individual 
cows  and  of  particular  strains,  varies  more  in  color 
and  flavor 

The  common  stock  of  the  country  being  derived 
from  the  different  breeds  which  have  from  time  to 
time  been  imported,  by  crossing  and  mixing  in  every 
conceivable  way,  develop  in  their  milk  the  widest  dif- 
ferences. There  is  no  more  uniformity  in  the  quality 
of  their  milk  than  there  is  in  the  certainty  with  which 
individual  characteristics  are  transmitted. 

In  crossing,  there  is  generally  something  of  the  form 
of  the  ancestors  impressed  on  the  offspring,  but  the 
characteristics  of  milk  are  less  likely  to  follow.  The 
milk  of  grades  is  therefore  liable  to  great  uncertainty, 
but  it  is  more  uniform  than  in  the  common  stock.  The 
effects  of  cross-breeding  upon  the  quality  of  milk  is 
sometimes  very  strange.  I  have  seen  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  milk  of  two  distinct  thorough  breeds  so 
completely  wiped  out  by  crossing,  that  none  of  the 
peculiarities  of  either  could  be  recognized. 

Every  variation  in  the  constitutions  of  cows  varies 
the  quality  of  their  milk,  making  it  a  matter  of  prime 
importance  for  every  dairy  farmer  to  know  all  he  pos- 
sibly can  in  regard  to  the  laws  of  hereditary  descent. 

MILKING. 

Milking  is  an  art  that  requires  to  be  learned  as  much 
as  any  trade.  An  expert  will,  at  sight,  detect  an 
unskillful  hand  as  readily  as  a  farmer  would  dis- 
tinguish a  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  use  of  an 
axe  or  a  scythe  by  seeing  one  attempt  to  use  either  of 


Milk.  /5p 

these  tools.  Any  one  who  determines  to  do  so,  can 
milk  a  cow,  or  use  an  axe,  or  a  scythe,  after  a  fashion, 
but  to  do  either  to  the  best  advantage  requires  skill 
and  experience. 

There  are  three  distinct  points  to  be  regarded  in 
milking.  The  first  relates  to  the  treatment  of  the 
cow,  the  second  to  cleanliness,  and  the  third  to  the 
manner  of  extracting  the  milk. 

The  manipulations  in  milking  are  best  learned  by 
practice.  But  there  is  philosophy  in  milking  as  well 
as  in  everything  else,  and  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  of 
doing  it.  Because  the  right  way  is  the  best,  it  should 
be  pointed  out  and  followed.  However  plain  and 
simple  the  art  of  milking  a  cow  may  be  considered, 
the  particular  manner  in  which  it  is  done  may  have 
much  to  do  in  modifying  the  profits  of  the  dairy. 

A  perusal  of  the  description  of  the  internal  struc- 
ture of  the  udder,  which  will  be  found  under  the  head 
of  "  Secretion  of  Milk,"  will  explain  the  reason  for 
certain  conditions  insisted  on  as  essential.  Otherwise, 
they  may  appear  unimportant. 

The  cow  is  naturally  sluggish  in  her  movements, 
and  should  not  be  hurried  out  of  her  natural  gait. 
She  should  never  be  driven  to  the  place  of  milking 
faster  than  a  walk,  and  if  she  has  far  to  go,  the  walk 
should  be  a  slow  one.  Hurrying  a  cow  when  she  is 
full  and  the  weather  warm,  hastens  the  circulation  of 
her  blood,  and  heats  both  her  blood  and  her  milk.  A 
very  little  heating  of  the  blood  perceptibly  affects  the 
milk.  It  increases  its  odor  as  well  as  raises  its  temper- 
ature, and  modifies  the  butter  or  cheese  made  from  it. 
On  this  account,  driving  cows  with  a  dog  is  not  to  be 
recommended.  We  have  seen  the  milk  of  a  dairy 
numbering  over  thirty  cows  perceptibly  affected  by 


i6o  American  Dairying. 

the  milk  of  a  single  cow  driven  in  haste  by  a  dog. 
She  happened  to  be  out  at  night  and  was  accidentally 
left  in  a  lot  a  hundred  and  fifty  rods  distant,  when  the 
herd  was  driven  to  a  barn.  Against  our  protest  a  dog 
was  sent  after  her,  and  she  came  running  to  the  barn, 
panting  and  frightened.  In  ten  or  fifteen  minutes 
afterwards  she  gave  about  six  quarts  of  milk,  instead 
of  ten,  and  it  was  hot  and  odoriferous.  It  w^as  mixed 
with  the  rest  of  the  milk,  and,  as  was  then  customary, 
left  through  the  night  without  any  other  cooling  than 
it  got  by  stirring.  The  extra  odor  of  the  feverish 
mess,  acting  as  a  ferment  in  the  slowly  cooling  mass, 
made  its  impress  upon  the  milk  and  curd  of  the  next 
day.  The  milk  of  this  cow  was  not  natural  till  after 
several  milkings.  This  was  an  extreme  case.  Less 
heating  and  worrying  produces  less  effect,  but  never 
fails  to  do  injury. 

Unless  the  number  of  cows  is  very  small,  and  they 
are  all  very  quiet  and  peaceable,  they  had  better  be 
fastened  .  in  a  milking  barn  or  shaded  stalls,  rather 
than  to  be  milked  in  an  open  yard.  A  large  herd 
requires  a  yard  so  large  as  to  give  too  much  chance 
for  dodging,  running,  hooking,  and  disturbing  each 
other.  It  soon  becomes  trodden  up  and  filthy,  especially 
in  moist  weather.  The  practice  of  milking  in  open 
yards  is  rapidly  going  out  of  use,  especially  in  large 
dairies. 

All  harsh  and  violent  treatment  should  be  entirely 
avoided.  Pain  and  fear,  worrying  and  solicitude,  are 
clearly  detrimental  to  milk  secretion,  and  never  fail  to 
make  the  cow  hold  back  a  part  of  her  mess,  if  they 
occur  at  the  time  of  milking.  Kind  and  gentle  treat- 
ment and  quietude  promote  secretion,  and  are  abso- 
solutely  essential  to  drawing  all  the  milk. 


Milk.  i6i 

The  milker  should  be  careful  to  avoid  every  occa- 
sion of  discomfort  to  the  cow.  He  should  keep  her 
teats  sound  and  healthy  by  oiling  them,  if  they  are 
inclined  to  chap  or  crack ;  he  should  also  be  careful 
to  take  hold  so  as  not  to  pinch  a  part  of  them  between 
the  ends  of  his  fingers  and  his  hand,  and  he  should 
see  that  his  finger  nails  do  not,  like  hawks'  claws,  do 
violence  to  the  teats  when  pressing  them.  If  any 
thing  occurs  to  disturb  the  cow,  or  make  her  start  or 
kick,  treat  her  kindly,  soothe  her  with  caressing  tones, 
and  abate  the  disturbance  as  much  as  possible.  Use 
no  harsh  language  or  violence.  All  severity  is  sure 
to  make  a  cow  keep  back  all  the  milk  she  can.  It  not 
only  fails  to  effect  any  improvement  in  the  habits  of 
the  animal,  but  does  positive  injury,  and  makes  matters 
worse  by  cultivating  a  fractious  disposition  in  both 
cow  and  milker.  The  man  who  cannot  govern  his 
temper  had  better  let  milking  alone. 

If  a  cow  kicks  or  is  uneasy,  it  should  not  be  inferred 
that  she  is  malicious ;  it  is  very  likely  because  she  is 
hurt,  or  in  some  way  made  uncomfortable,  and  the 
cause  of  discomfort  should  be  found  and  removed. 
When  milking  is  comfortably  and  properly  performed, 
the  cow  evidently  enjoys  the  operation.  She  manifests 
her  pleasure  by  her  quiet  and  placid  demeanor,  and 
often  by  putting  herself  in  a  way  to  be  milked,  show- 
ing impatience  if  it  is  not  done  when  she  expects  it. 
Kindness  is  by  far  the  best  agent  for  regulating  the 
habits  of  the  dairy.  All  unusual  noises,  or  loud  talk- 
ing and  singing,  should  be  avoided,  because  they  excite 
the  cow's  attention  and  prevent  relaxation  of  her 
udder.  A  strange  dog  passing  through  the  yard  or 
barn,  has  made  many  a  cow  hold  back  a  pint  of  her 
best  milk.     Whistling  or  low  singing  may  have  no 


1 62  A)iicrican  Dairying. 

particular  effect  upon  the  cow,  but  they  had  better  be 
omitted  because  they  retard  work.  The  singing  milker 
is  very  sure  to  be  behind  hand.  A  slow,  quarrelsome, 
or  noisy  milker  will  waste  more  than  his  wages  and 
had  better  be  kept  away  from  the  cows. 

Each  milker  should  have  a  good  stool  of  his  own 
and  when  he  sits  down  to  milk,  should  sit  snug  up  to 
the  cow.  Getting  off  at  arm's  length  not  only  makes 
awkward  and  hard  work  for  the  milker,  but  it  exposes 
his  every  motion  to  the  gaze  of  the  cow,  keeps  her 
attention  aroused,  and  gives  her  the  advantage  of 
position  if  she  should  feel  disposed  to  use  it. 

Pail  room  enough  to  hold  the  whole  mess  should 
always  be  within  reach  of  the  milker,  for,  toward  the 
last  end  of  the  milking,  he  cannot  get  up  and  sit  down 
again,  and  get  all  the  milk.  When  once  begun  a 
cow  should  not  be  left  till  she  is  finished.  The  pail 
being  placed  safely  against  catching  dirt  and  spilling, 
let  the  work  go  on  silently  and  as  rapidly  and  quietly 
as  possible,  always  using  both  hands.  Milk  the  left 
hind  teat  with  the  right  forward  one  and  the  right 
hind  one  with  the  left  forward,  changing  teats  often 
enough  to  relieve  the  pressure  in  the  different  parts  of 
the  udder  about  equally.  Hold  the  left  arm  firmly 
toward  the  right  leg  of  the  cow,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  press  it  back  and  protect  the  pail  with  the 
least  disturbance,  if  she  should  kick  or  step  forward. 
If  the  milk  is  not  soon  extracted,  the  last  part  of  the 
mess  will  be  held  back  and  permanently  retained, 
when  the  milker  probably  thinks  he  has  got  it  all, 
because  it  stops  coming.  A  cow  should,  therefore, 
be  milked  quickly  as  well  as  quietly.  It  is  natural  for 
her  to  part  with  her  milk  in  a  few  minutes.  A  calf 
will  draw  a  large  mess  of  milk  in  three  minutes,  and  a 


Milk.  i6s 

milker  should  come  as  near  that  time  as  possible.  If 
the  time  of  milking  is  much  prolonged,  she  will 
become  impatient  and  be  sure  not  to  "  give  down  " 
perfectly.  The  quickest  milker  gets  the  most  and  the 
best  milk,  because  he  gets  all  the  "  strippings,"  which 
are  the  richest  part.  If  anything  occurs  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  cow,  near  the  close  of  the  milking, 
some  of  the  best  milk  will  be  held  back  till  the  next 
milking,  when  it  will  have  become  the  poor,  blue 
milk  that  is  first  drawn.  A  double  loss  ensues  from 
every  such  occurrence,  because  leaving  milk  in  a 
cow's  bag  always  tends  to  diminish  secretion. 

An  hour  is  long  enough  to  keep  the  herd  confined, 
and  milkers  enough  should  be  employed  to^complete 
the  work  in  that  time.  This  will  require  one  hand  to 
about  ten  cows,  and  that  number  is  about  as  many  as 
one  can  safely  milk  at  a  time  without  danger  of  injury 
to  the  hands  of  the  milker  or  to  the  cows.  The  num- 
ber had  better  be  less  than  more.  Each  milker  should 
have  certain  cows  to  milk,  and  he  should  milk  the 
same  ones  every  time,  and  in  the  same  order,  so  as  to 
divide  the  time  equally.  Changing  milkers  attracts 
the  attention  of  the  cow  and  excites  a  little  feeling  of 
cautiousness,  and  she  does  not  "give  down  "as  per- 
fectly as  when  always  milked  by  the  same  person. 

When  a  cow  is  nearly  milked,  the  hand,  as  it  grasps 
the  teat,  should  reach  up  a  little  above  the  teat,  so  as 
to  press  the  milk  down  through  the  valve  or  contrac- 
tion at  the  upper  end  of  it,  and  every  time  the  milk  is 
pressed  out  of  the  teat,  the  milker  should  pull  down 
on  it,  not  with  a  jerk,  but  gently.  When  the  milk  is 
nearly  exhausted  from  the  udder,  this  pulling  down 
on  the  teat  pulls  open  the  contractions  at  the  junctions 
of  the  tubes,  and  lets  the  milk  run  down,  and  is  nec^s- 


i6^  American  Dairying. 

sary  to  procure  all  the  milk.  The  omission  of  this 
operation  leaves  a  part  of  the  milk  in  the  tubes  and 
is  what  has  made  every  milking  machine  a  failure. 

Regularity  is  of  prime  importance.  The  cows 
should  come  slowly  and  peaceably  into  the  barn  yard, 
but  promptly  at  a  certain  hour.  Five  in  the  morning 
and  five  at  night  are  good  hours.  Some  milk  at  five 
in  the  morning  and  seven  at  night,  but  it  is  not  well 
to  divide  the  time  so  unequally.  Observations  have 
shown  that  milkings  twelve  hours  apart  will  give 
thirty  pounds  of  cheese  to  the  cow  in  a  season,  more 
than  when  they  are  ten  and  fourteen  hours  apart,  and 
a  greater  inequality  will  make  more  difference  still. 

So  much  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to 
cleanliness  in  milking,  and  it  is  so  obvious  that  milk 
which  is  to  be  used  for,  or  to  be  manufactured  into 
human  food,  should  be  perfectly  clean,  that  it  seems 
almost  superfluous  to  call  attention  to  the  subject. 
But  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  said,  filthy  practices 
continue  in  use.  One  of  these  is  milking  in  the  rain 
or  when  the  cow  is  so  wet  that  the  water  will  run 
down  her  sides  and  drip  i^ito  the  milk  pail.  The  hair 
and  skin  of  the  cow  are  covered  with  accumulations 
of  perspiration,  and  to  soak  these  up  and  rinse  them 
down  her  sides  into  the  milk,  is  as  injurious  as  it  is 
filthy. 

Another  defect  sometimes  occurs  from  not  thor- 
oughly cleansing  the  teats  and  udder  before  beginning 
to  milk.  A  thorough  brushing  is  always  necessary  to 
get  off  the  loose  hairs  and  dirt,  and  if  the  teats  have 
become  otherwise  filthy,  they  should  be  washed,  but 
not  milked  till  they  are  dry.  A  pail  of  water  and  a 
cloth  should  always  be  at  hand  for  this  purpose. 
When  milking  is  done  in  a  stable  there  is  sometimes 


MilL  165 

a  neglect  to  provide  absorbents  to  soak  up  liquid 
excrement,  and  to  prevent  spattering.  This  is  both  a 
violation  of  cleanliness  and  wasteful.  It  can  easily 
be  guarded  against  by  the  use  of  straw,  sawdust,  dried 
muck,  or  something  of  the  kind.  Still  another  filthy 
practice  is  that  of  drawing  a  little  milk  into  the  hand 
and  wetting  the  teats  with  it  before  beginning  to  milk. 
Some  milkers  insist  that  this  is  not  uncleanly;  to 
which  it  is  only  necessary  to  reply  that  any  person 
whose  sense  of  neatness  is  so  obtuse  as  not  to  discover, 
without  argument,  that  the  practice  is  a  filthy  one,  is 
unfit  either  to  milk  or  work  about  a  dairy. 

Besides  objections  on  the  score  of  filth,  the  first  milk 
drawn  contains  so  little  cream  and  so  much  saline 
matter,  that  it  makes  the  surface  of  the  teats,  dry  and 
harsh  and  inclines  them  to  chap.  If,  after  the  milking 
is  done,  the  pail  is  set  aside  and  the  teats  wet  with 
some  of  the  very  last  strippings,  that  are  little  else 
than  cream,  there  would  be  less  objection  to  the 
practice. 

To  mention  in  detail  all  the  points  that  offend 
against  cleanliness  would  be  tedious.  They  must,  for 
the  most  part,  be  left  to  the  milker's  sense  of  neat- 
ness, which  certainly  ought  to  be  of  an  appreciative 
character.  Uncleanly  milking  is  quite  too  common. 
If  all  the  milk  of  which  butter  and  cheese  are  made 
could  be  taken  to  the  dairy-house  as  undefiled  as  it 
exists  in  the  udder,  the  price  of  those  luxuries  would 
be  at  once  materially  advanced. 

Drawing  all  the  milk  perfectly  from  the  udder  at 
every  milking,  not  only  prolongs  the  flow,  but  it  keeps 
the  bag  in  good  condition.  By  leaving  milk  in  the 
bag  it  becomes  crowded  and  inflamed  before  the  next 
milking,  drying  up  the  milk  and  injuring  the  bag.     In 


i66 


American  Dairyiiig. 


some  cases  the  milk  comes  down  very  slowly,  and 
occasionally  it  is  not  all  drawn  out  by  reason  of  hard 
milking.  This  may  be  overcome.  It  is  occasioned  by 
a  too  small  hole  in  the  end  of  the  teat,  which  can  be 
easily  enlarged.  The  following  illustration  and  man- 
ner of  doing  it,  copied  from  a  recent  number  of  the 
N.    Y.  Tribune^  will  sufficiently  explain  how : 

Make  a  small  cone-shaped  plug  of  ivory,  bone  or  metal,  or 
even  hard  wood,  well  oiled,  as  large  as  you 
can  well  insert  in  the  end  of  the  teat.  By 
making  a  head  on  the  large  end  of  the  cone, 
and  just  above  the  head  a  little  contraction 
(as  shown  in  the  figure),  the  plug  when 
inserted  in  the  end  of  the  teat  will  remain 
and  keep  the  opening  stretched  till  it  will 
become  sufficiently  enlarged  to  milk  as 
easily  as  you  desire.  It  may  be  removed  at 
each  milking,  and  when  the  milking  is  done 
it  may  be  inserted  again,  to  remain  till  the 
next  milking,  and  so  on  till  the  orifice  becomes  permanently 
enlarged  to  the  right  size.     No  harm  will  be  done  to  the  teat. 

To  cultivate  a  habit  of  giving  down  rapidly  and 
fully,  fast  and  careful  milking  are  necessary.  Slow 
milkers  seldom  get  all  the  milk,  and  the  bag  gets  out 
of  order  in  one  way  or  another.  Difficult  milking  is 
occasionally  produced  by  a  contraction  of  the  orifice 
in  the  diaphragm  which  stretches  over  the  top  of  the 
teat.  The  little  cord  which  runs  round  the  edge  of 
the  hole,  contracts  and  knots  up,  closing  the  hole  and 
making  a  hard  bunch  just  at  the  upper  end  of  the  teat. 
Cases  of  this  kind  are  more  numerous  than  formerly, 
owing,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  feeding  more  corn  meal 
and  heating  food  than  formerly  before  parturition. 
But  sometimes  it  is  brought  on  by  too  much  pulling 
down  on  the  teats  when  milking,  especially  where  the 


Milk.  167 

milk  is  drawn  by  "stripping,"  as  it  is  called,  with  the 
thumb  and  finger,  /.  e.,  the  teat  is  held  between  the 
thumb  and  finger  tight  enough  to  keep  the  milk  from 
flowing  back,  while  they  slide  down  the  teat  and  crowd 
the  milk  out.  This  constant  and  severe  pulling  on 
the  teat  irritates  the  diaphragm  and  cord,  and  makes 
them  pull  up  and  occasion  the  bunch  described,  just 
above  the  teat.  When  this  contraction  has  been  car- 
ried so  far  as  to  make  the  bunch  feel  hard,  there  is  no 
relaxation  to  it  afterward.  It  has  so  proved  in  my 
experience.  It  can  be  remedied  by  cutting  the  cord 
and  diaphragm  to  make  the  hole  larger.  It  requires  a 
considerable  incision  to  prevent  growing  right  up 
again.  It  does  no  harm  to  the  udder  to  make  the  cut 
quite  large.  It  is  best  done  by  inserting  a  flattened 
tube  as  large  as  can  be  crowded  into  the  teat,  and  after 
pushing  it  up  to  the  bunch,  make  the  incision  by  pass- 
ing a  blade  through  the  tube,  then  turning  at  right 
angles  and  cutting  again.  It  is  best  done  when  the 
bag  is  full  of  milk. 

SOURING  AND  OTHER  CHANGES  IN  MILK. 

Milk,  it  is  well  known,  is  an  unstable  compound. 
It  is  constantly  undergoing  changes  from  the  time  it 
is  formed  in  the  lacteal  glands  until  it  is  manufactured 
or  consumed.  The  moment  it  is  secreted  by  the  milk 
glands,  and  passed  into  the  tube  of  the  udder,  it  is 
attacked  by  thousands  of  busy  absorbents,  that  begin 
at  once  to  suck  up  and  carry  away,  into  the  general 
circulation,  the  nutrient  properties  it  contains.  Milk 
twelve  hours  in  the  udder  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  milk  when  first  secreted.  Exposed  to  the  action 
of  the  absorbents  that  line  the  milk   tubes,  it  steadily 


1 68  American  Dairying. 

loses,  as  it  passes  alon^,  a  portion  of  its  fat,  its  albu- 
minoids, its  sugar  and  water,  and,  probably,  also  a 
portion  of  its  saline  ingredients. 

When  relieved  from  the  action  of  absorbents  within 
the  udder  and  brought  into  contact  with  the  air,  other 
agencies  begin  at  once  to  act  upon  it,  inducing  the 
changes  which  afterward  occur.  Unstable  as  milk 
appears  to  be,  it  does  not  perish  from  anything  in  the 
nature  of  its  own  elements,  but  is  destroyed  by  influ- 
ences foreign  to  its  own  necessary  composition. 

If  milk  is  drawn  from  the  udder  without  being 
exposed  to  the  air  and  sealed  up  tight,  it  neither  sours 
nor  taints,  provided  it  is  healthy  and  sound  when  it 
is  drawn.    But  if  exposed  to  the  air  it  sours  and  decays. 

If  a  can  of  fruit  or  milk,  which  has  been  safely  pre- 
served for  an  indefinite  time,  is  opened  so  that  its 
contents  are  exposed  to  the  air,  it  will  soon  sour  and 
spoil,  showing  that  the  agency  which  does  the  work 
of  destruction  is  conveyed  to  the  fruit  or  milk  by  the 
air.  This  observation,  which  must  be  familiar  to 
every  dairyman,  demonstrates  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  nature  or  composition  of  the  milk  or  fruit  itself 
which  causes  it  to  change  or  decay,  but  that  the  cause 
existed  only  in  the  atmosphere  through  which  it  is 
conveyed  to  the  milk  or  fruit. 

It  is  what  the  air  contains  and  not  the  air  itself,  that 
destroys  the  milk  or  fruit  in  this  case,  for  if  a  long 
tube  filled  with  cotton  be  connected  with  the  contents 
of  the  can,  so  that  the  air  which  will  be  admitted  to  it 
shall  be  filtered  of  whatever  foreign  matter  it  may 
contain,  the  contents  of  the  can  remain  sound  indefi- 
nitely, the  same  as  when  perfectly  sealed. 

Milk  absorbs  from  the  atmosphere  the  seeds  of  a 
fungus  plant,  which  grow  and  multiply  and  fill  it  with 


Milk.  i6g 

their  presence,  and  produce  the  souring.  The  seeds 
of  the  fungus  that  are  concerned  in  the  process  of 
souring  are  very  small,  and  are  always  floating  in  the 
air  unseen  and  unsuspected.  When  developed  they 
are  of  considerable  size,  so  that  they  are  readily  seen 
with  a  magnifier  of  moderate  power.  They  are  shown 
at  the  bottom  of  the  annexed  figure,  as  they  appear 
under  a  microscope  with  a  magnifying  power  of  i,ooo 
diameters. 

They  have  a  distinct  cylindrical  form,  and  are 
known  as  arthrococcus,  or  jointed  cells.  Cold  checks 
their  growth,  but  never  kills  them.  They  are  not 
injured  at  all  by  freezing 
and  thawing,  or  wetting  and 
drying.  Nothing  but  heat 
kills  them.  One  of  these 
cells,  adhering  to  the  sides 
of  a  milk  pan,  or  in  a  cre- 
vice, may  be  dried  in  the 
most  thorough  manner  pos- 
sible, and  lie  there  for  a 
week,  a  month,  or  even  a 
year,  without  injuring  it  in 
the  least.  The  moment  it  is  moistened  with  warm 
milk,  it  swells  up  and  springs  into  active  growth,  and 
in  a  short  time  its  progeny  may  be  counted  by  the 
million.  Premature  souring  of  the  milk  is  the  result. 
They  grow  most  efficiently  at  blood  heat,  and  nothing 
^  ohort  of  boiling  heat  is  sure  to  kill  them. 

A  few  destructive  agencies  get  into  milk  through 
the  body  of  the  cow.  One  of  these  is  represented  by 
the  dots  in  the  upper  part  of  figure  26.  They  are  called 
Micrococcus  cells.  They  are  exceedingly  minute,  and 
everywhere  abundant.     Their  influence  tends  to  pro- 


lyo  American  Dairying, 

duce  decomposition.  They  are  also  active  agents  in 
digestion,  and  in  the  coagulation  of  milk,  and  in  putre- 
faction. They  do  no  particular  injury  to  milk,  unless 
kept  too  long,  when  they  produce  offensive  putrefac- 
tion. They  are  killed  with  boiling  heat.  It  is  to  kill 
these  destructive  agents,  that  we  scald  green  fruit ; 
and  we  seal  it  up  air  tight,  while  hot,  to  shut  them 
away  from  it.  They  may  be  killed  in  milk  in  the  same 
manner,  and  if  they  are  effectually  shut  out  by  sealing 
up  air  tight  while  hot,  milk  or  sweet  cream,  as  we 
have  found  by  experience,  will  keep  just  as  well  as 
canned  fruit,  and  for  precisely  the  same  reason. 

There  is  nothing,  therefore,  in  the  necessary  com- 
position of  milk  which  makes  it  sour  or  putrefy ;  that 
it  is  always  matter  foreign  to  itself  which  destroys 
it,  must  be  evident  from  the  fact  that  when  all  foreign 
agencies  within  it  are  killed  by  scalding,  and  those 
outside  of  it  kept  away  by  excluding  the  air  from  it, 
sweet  milk  will  remain  unchanged  for  time  indefinite. 
Milk  which  has  been  thus  kept  sweet  for  a  year  or 
more,  will  sour  in  two  days  at  60  degrees,  by  simply 
letting  common  air  come  in  contact  with  it.  It  is  an 
opinion  by  no  means  uncommon  among  dairymen 
that  milk  spoils  of  its  own  accord,  so  to  speak,  and 
that  it  is  of  necessity  short  lived.  But  this,  as  Ave  see, 
is  an  error,  and  the  sooner  it  is  discarded  the  better. 
The  ready  infection  it  takes  from  the  air  in  which  it 
may  be  placed,  ought  to  be  better  appreciated.  If  the 
fact  that  the  short  lived  tendency  of  milk  was  occa- 
sioned, not  because  its  composition  necessarily  impels 
it  to  destruction,  but  simply  because  it  affords  such  a 
fertile  field  for  developing  and  multiplying  the  minute 
seeds  of  fungus  plants  which  are  floating  in  the  atmos- 
phere, was  more  clearly  impressed  upon  the  minds  of 


Milk,  lyi 

all  those  who  have  the  care  of  milk,  they  would  be 
more  cautious  than  they  now  seem  to  be,  in  regard  to 
the  quality  of  air  which  they  allow  to  come  in  contact 
with  it.  It  requires  no  long  exposure  to  the  air  for 
milk  to  take  an  infection  that  will  cause  it  to  sour. 
A  moment's  contact  is  usually  enough.  The  germs 
of  acidity  multiply  in  milk  with  such  astonishing 
rapidity,  that  a  very  few  are  all  that  is  necessary  to  set 
the  work  a  going. 

The  influence  of  the  air  upon  milk  is  not  confined 
to  the  absorption  of  the  spores  w^hich  produce  acidity ; 
spores  of  every  other  kind  are  taken  in  as  well.  Nor 
does  the  absorptive  power  of  milk  end  with  absorbing 
living  germs;  it  takes  in  odors  as  freely  as  infectious 
germs.  It  is  a  fact  which  cannot  be  too  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind  of  every  one  connected  with 
the  care  of  milk,  or  the  manufacture  of  milk  products, 
that  milk  takes  in  every  odor  as  well  as  the  seeds  of 
every  ferment  that  blows  over  its  surface. 

This  absorbent  power  is  not  peculiar  to  milk  alone. 
It  belongs  in  common  to  all  liquids.  Water,  placed 
in  a  cellar  containing  decaying  vegetation,  soon  tastes 
and  smells  of  the  decay,  and  becomes  unwholesome  to 
use.  But  milk,  being  full  of  oily  matter  and  holding 
albuminoids  and  sugar  in  solution,  offers  to  every 
species  of  ferment  just  what  is  most  desirable  for  it  to 
flourish  in.  Every  odor  that  comes  in  contact  with 
milk  is  grasped  and  taken  in  at  once,  and  its  grasp  is 
never  slackened.  Once  taken  in,  it  is  there  perma- 
nently, and  the  seeds  of  every  ferment  that  touches  its 
surface  find  such  a  fertile  soil  to  flourish  in  that  they 
spring  at  once  into  vigorous  growth,  and  multiply  and 
quickly  "  leaven  the  whole  lump. "  The  London  Milk 
Journal  cites  instances  where  milk  that  had  stood  a 


iy2  American  Dairying, 

short  time  in  the  presence  of  persons  sick  with  typhoid 
fever,  or  been  handled  by  parties  before  fully  recovered 
from  the  small  pox,  spread  these  diseases  as  effectually 
as  if  the  persons  themselves  had  been  present.  Scar- 
latina, measles  and  other  contagious  diseases  have 
been  spread  in  the  same  way.  The  peculiar  smell  of  a 
cellar  is  indelibly  impressed  upon  all  the  butter  made 
from  the  milk  standing  in  it.  A  few  puffs  from  a  pipe 
or  a  cigar  will  scent  all  the  milk  in  the  room,  and  a 
smoking  lamp  will  soon  do  the  same.  A  pail  of  milk 
standing  ten  minutes  where  it  will  take  the  scent  of  a 
strong  smelling  stable,  or  any  other  offensive  odor, 
will  imbibe  a  taint  that  will  never  leave  it.  A  maker 
of  gilt-edged  butter  objects  to  cooling  warm  milk  in 
the  room  where  his  milk  stands  for  the  cream  to  rise, 
because  he  says  the  odor  escaping  from  the  new  milk, 
while  cooling,  is  taken  in  by  the  other  milk,  and 
retained  to  the  injury  of  his  butter.  This  may  seem 
like  descending  to  little  things,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  it  is  the  sum  of  such  little  things  that 
determines  whether  the  products  of  the  dairy  are  to 
be  sold  at  cost  or  below,  or  as  a  high  priced  luxury. 
If  milk  is  to  be  converted  into  an  article  of  the  latter 
class,  it  must  be  handled  and  kept  in  clean  and  sweet 
vessels,  and  must  stand  in  pure  fresh  air,  such  as 
would  be  desirable  and  healthy  for  people  to  breathe. 
Many  other  changes  than  those  enumerated,  occur 
in  the  milk  room.  The  souring  process  once  begun, 
continues  till  the  sugar  is  converted  into  acid.  The 
whey  begins  to  separate  from  the  thickened  milk  and 
the  vinous  fermentation  sets  in,  slowly  forming  alco- 
hol, which  takes  up  the  volatile  oils,  and  the  strong 
acid  ferment  preys  upon  the  solid  fats,  to  the  detriment 
of  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  butter.    If  still  per- 


Milk,  173 

raitted  to  stand,  the  alcohol  is  converted  into  vinegar, 
aggravating  results.  While  these  changes  are  going 
on,  the  micrococcus  cells  will  be  slowly  decomposing  the 
cheesy  matter,  and  carrying  it  on  to  putrefaction. 

These  are  some  of  the  changes  which  are  ever  pro- 
gressing under  the  eye  of  the  dairyman,  and  he  who 
can  most  successfully  direct  and  control  them  is  the 
one  who  reaps  the  best  reward. 

SPONTANEOUS   COAGULATION. 

It  has  happened  every  now  and  then,  in  cheese  fac- 
tory practice,  that  milk  has  been  found  to  coagulate 
without  the  presence  of  any  sensible  acidity.  Well 
authenticated  cases  of  this  kind  have  occasionally 
appeared  in  the  agricultural  papers,  and  they  have  also 
been  mentioned  by  dairymen  at  their  meetings  for 
public  discussion.  Their  occurrence  has  been  the 
occasion  of  surprise,  and  a  good  deal  of  wonder  as  to 
the  cause  of  such  a  phenomenon,  but  no  light  has  been 
shed  upon  the  subject  further  than  to  find  that  there  is 
always  something  the  matter  with  the  milk  so  affected. 

During  all  the  hot  weather  of  the  season  of  1873, 
cases  of  this  kind  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
milk  with  which  the  city  of  Rochester  was  supplied. 
The  city  was  furnished  by  numerous  small  dealers  who 
brought  milk  in  their  w^agons  once  a  day,  their  farms 
being  from  three  to  five  miles  distant.  Some  of  the 
dealers  reported  no  trouble  from  any  unusual  thicken- 
ing, while  others  said  their  milk  sometimes  curdled 
before  they  could  get  it  to  their  customers,  without 
being  sour  to  the  taste,  and  when  it  was  delivered 
apparently  sound,  customers  now  and  then  complained 
that  it  loppered  while  sweet.     From  our  own  observa- 


//•/  American  Dairying. 

* 

tions  of  the  keeping  qualities  of  milk  brought  to  the 
city,  and  from  inquiries  made  of  those  who  used  it,  it 
appeared  that  the  peculiarity  complained  of  was  much 
more  extensive  than  even  the  milkmen  themselves 
supposed ;  and  that  milk  in  which  souring  did  not 
appear  much  sooner  than  is  usual,  often  became  thick 
upon  an  unusually  slight  development  of  acidity. 
One  mdkman  stated  his  experience  substantially  as 
follows:  He  lived  three  miles  from  the  city,  and 
delivered  milk  only  in  the  morning;  his  night's  milk 
was  strained  into  his  carrying  cans,  which  were  placed 
in  tubs  of  water  where  they  stood  all  night  with  the 
covers  partly  open;  the  morning's  milk  was  also 
cooled  in  the  same  way,  but  of  course  w^as  not  kept 
long  enough  to  cool  so  thoroughly  as  the  night's 
milk.  He  stated  further,  that  he  furnished  a  con- 
siderable number  of  families  with  pure  morning's 
milk,  for  the  use  of  infant  children.  The  milk  for 
each  family  was  put  in  a  separate  can,  suited  to  its 
amount,  the  cans  for  this  purpose  varying  from  one 
quart,  to  six.  These  little  cans  were  also  set  in  tubs 
of  cold  water  and  cooled  with  the  rest  of  the  morn- 
ing's milk. 

The  premature  thickening  always  arose  with  the 
morning's  milk,  and  oftener  with  the  small  cans  than 
with  the  larger  ones.  With  the  night's  milk,  there 
was  no  trouble.  It  kept  longer  than  the  morning's 
milk,  and  was  therefore  dealt  out  last.  His  experience 
was  similar  to  that  of  many  others,  and  represented  a 
considerable  share  of  the  milk  brought  to  the  west 
half  of  the  city. 

Cheese  makers  in  different  factories  have  reported  to 
me  several  cases  in  which  milk  standing  in  a  large 
body  in  the  manufacturing  vats  through   the    night 


Milk.  '  175 

has  been  found  in  the  morning  to  be  more  or  less 
coagulated  and  yet  perfectly  sweet.  The  curds  thus 
formed  have  been  warmed  and  cut,  treated  in  the 
usual  way  and  made  into  cheese  which  did  not  appear, 
when  cured,  materially  different  from  cheese  made 
with  the  use  of  rennet.  There  was  no  indication  of 
acidity  in  the  working  of  the  curd  or  in  the  curing  of 
the  cheese  more  than  is  usual  in  the  curd  of  sweet 
milk  coagulated  with  rennet.  I  have  met  with  a  good 
many  cases  of  this  kind  of  spontaneous  coagulation  in 
which  the  tendency  to  acidity  was  not  greater  than  is 
usual.  In  one  case,  milk  as  soon  as  drawn  was  put 
into  a  closely  covered  can  and  after  being  carried  in  a 
wagon  for  half  an  hour  curdled  in  a  few  minutes  upon 
being  warmed  to  ninety  degrees.  This  sample  was 
not  only  perfectly  neutral  when  it  coagulated,  but  the 
curd  and  whey  remained  neutral  six  hours  before  they 
would  respond  to  an  acid  test. 

The  causes  which  brought  about  these  seemingly 
strange  results  are  neither  new  nor  very  materially 
different  from  those  which  produce  ordinary  coagu- 
lation. 

Milk  is  composed  of  water,  caseine  or  cheesy  mat- 
ter, albumen,  sugar  and  certain  mineral  matters,  all 
joined  in  a  chemical  union.  Butter  is  an  outsider,  so 
far  as  this  chemical  partnership  is  concerned,  for  it  is 
only  mechanically  mixed,  or  suspended  in  this  liquid 
combination.  The  caseine  is  what  becomes  curd 
when  it  separates  from  the  other  members  of  the 
partnership.  It  is  attached  to  the  rest  of  its  compan- 
ions by  a  very  feeble  affinity  and  becomes  detached 
from  them  easily.  A  slight  change  in  the  mineral 
matter  by  the  action  of  an  acid,  or  in  the  sugar  by  the 
action  of  yeast,  is  sufficient  to  break  off  its  connection 


iy6  American  Dairying. 

with  the  compound,  when  it  becomes  a  solid  instead 
of  a  liquid,  and  appears  as  we  see  curd  in  cheese- 
making  and  in  loppered  milk.  A  shock  of  electricity 
may,  by  changing  the  elective  affinity  of  some  one  of 
the  elements,  produce  the  same  result. 

AVhen  milk  is  left  standing  exposed  to  the  air,  two 
varieties  of  yeast  are  active  in  producing  the  coagu- 
lum.  There  is  in  milk,  as  has  been  before  explained, 
when  it  comes  from  the  cow,  a  very  small  quantity  of 
yeast,  similar  to  that  in  rennet.  This  multiplies,  and 
would,  in  time,  become  sufficient  to  curdle  the  milk 
alone.  Besides  this,  there  is  the  lactic  yeast,  that  is 
concerned  in  the  souring,  which  falls  into  it  abun- 
dantly from  the  air,  that  would  also  produce  congula- 
tion,  if  it  acted  alone.  But  the  two  act  together  and 
produce  a  coagulum  sooner  than  either  would  acting 
by  itself.  The  lactic  yeast  produces  the  greater  effect, 
but  that  the  curding  of  the  milk  is  helped  along  and 
hastened  by  the  aid  of  the  former,  may  be  known  by 
scalding  the  new  milk,  when  the  yeast,  born  with  the 
milk,  will  be  killed,  and  the  coagulation  will  come 
from  the  souring  alone,  but  about  one-third  more  time 
will  be  required  to  effect  it.  It  is  a  fact  which  must 
have  been  noticed  by  almost  every  one  who  has  the 
care  of  milk,  that  it  does  not  always  coagulate  with 
the  same  degree  of  sourness,  which  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  varying  quantity  of  yeast  similar  to  that  in 
rennet.  The  influence  of  the  ferment  in  new  milk 
varies,  according  to  the  treatment  of  the  milk  and  the 
health  of  the  cow  from  which  it  is  taken. 

If  new  milk  is  covered  up,  so  as  to  prevent  the  odor 
from  escaping,  it  will  very  much  facilitate  the  action 
of  the  rennet  yeast.  Agitation  also  helps  it  along. 
The  health  of  the  cow  varies  the  quantity,  to  start 


Milk.  lyj 

with.  Any  circumstance  which  produces  a  feverish 
condition  in  the  animal  will  increase  the  coagulating 
agent  in  her  milk  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  fever. 
The  feverishness  produced  by  eating  too  much  or 
improper  food  ;  by  drinking  stagnant  water  ;  by  v/or- 
rying  with  dogs,  or  by  exposure  to  a  hot  sun,  will  so 
increase  the  rennet  yeast  as  to  make  the  milk  coagulate 
upon  the  first  approach  of  acidity  or  even  before,  when 
without  this  extraordinary  amount,  a  deeper  souring 
would  need  to  be  developed  before  curding  would 
result.  These  are  general  principles  that  relate  to 
the  action  of  milk  everywhere,  and  are  worthy  the 
careful  attention  of  all  concerned  in  any  way  in  the 
production  or  handling  of  milk.  They  cover  the  cause 
of  the  premature  thickening  of  the  Rochester  milk, 
and  that  in  the  factories.  Several  samples  of  this  spon- 
taneously caagulating  milk  have  been  analyzed  and 
in  every  instance,  a  lack  of  butter  and  sugar  and  an 
excess  of  albuminoids  was  found,  indicating  a  feverish 
condition  in  the  cow.  One  of  these  analyses  is  given 
on  a  preceding  page,  in  which  the  albuminoids  were 
six  and  a  half  per  cent.,  while  the  sugar  was  only  two 
and  tiie  butter  two  and  a  quarter  per  cent.  Such  pro- 
portions only  occur  in  a  disturbed  state  of  health. 
The  cause  of  the  tendency  to  premature  coagulation 
in  this  sample  was  traced  to  stagnant  water.  Some  of 
the  dairymen  around  Rochester,  who  have  not  running 
streams  on  their  farms,  have  supplied  the  defect  with 
what  are  termed  "pond-holes.'^  A  large  cavity  is 
excavated  in  some  low  place,  which  fills  with  water  in 
the  spring  and  remains  through  the  season.  The  sides 
are  made  sloping,  so  that  the  cows  can  easily  get  down 
to  the  water  to  drink.  In  hot  days,  they  love  to  wade 
into  the  water  and   stand  there  to  protect  their  legs 


ijS  American  Dairying. 

from  the  flies.  Of  course  the  water  gets  full  of  filth, 
and  becomes  green  and  putrid,  and  full  of  miasmatic 
matter  that  would  make  any  person  sick  to  drink  it. 
How  any  one,  with  common  sense,  could  for  a  moment 
suppose  that  such  water  would  make  good  milk  and 
promote  healthfulness  in  his  cows,  is  not  easy  to 
imagine.  It  may  be  better  than  no  water  in  a  case  of 
extreme  emergency,  but  it  is  certainly  unfit  for  the 
use  of  anything  but  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  exist- 
ence. The  milk  which  curdled  so  soon  came  from 
cows  which  drank  from  such  a  pond  in  August.  No 
wonder  that  they  were  not  in  good  health  and  that 
their  milk  was  abnormal.  Yet  this  milk  was  daily  dis- 
tributed through  the  city  to  feed  children  when  the 
records  of  mortality  were  swelled  with  cases  of  cholera 
morbus,  cholera  infantum,  typhoid  and  chill  fever,  and 
such  other  diseases  as  that  kind  of  water  is  liable  to 
produce 

MICROSCOPIC  EXAMINATION  OF  MILK. 

The  examination  of  milk  with  a  magnifying  glass, 
serves  a  purpose  in  dairy  practice  which  is  of  no 
small  account.  It  enables  us  to  distinguish  between 
healthy  and  diseased  milk. 

In  all  the  examples  of  diseased  milk,  and  illustra- 
tions of  diseased  milk  met  with,  the  pellicles  of  the 
milk  globules  have  appeared  viscid  and  adhesive,  as 
seen  in  the  following  illustrations  where  the  circles 
appear  in  clusters,  leaving  spaces  between  them  nearly 
vacant. 

Figure  27  represents  a  sample  of  slightly  tainted 
milk,  made  so  by  a  little  fever  in  the  cow. 

One  of  the  very  first  effects  of  disease  is  to  begin  to 
decompose  and  soften  the  coats  of  the  globules,  rend- 


Milk. 


179 


Fig.  27. 


ering  them  adherent.     This  effect  appears  long  before 

the  cow  exhibits  any  signs 

of  disease — at  least  any  that 

would  be  likely   to    attract 

the    notice  of   the  ordinary 

observer.    In  more  advanced 

stages,  the  globules  become 

broken  down  and  destroyed, 

and  assume  a  variety  of  new 

appearances. 

Figure    28    represents   a 
sample  of   milk   tainted  by 

drinking  impure  water.  It 
contained  the  seeds  of  algae 
and  other  organic  germs, 
which  made  the  cows  fever- 
ish and  the  milk  globules 
very  adhesive.  The  seeds  of 
the  algae  passed  through  the 
body  of  the  cow  into  the 
milk,  and  after  a  day  or  two 
they  grew,  and  the  stems  of 
the  plants,  well  developed  as 
in  the  illustration,  were  seen  in  the  milk.  A  large 
germ  of  another  kind  lays  bare  on  the  adhering 
globules,  and  at  the  left  of  the  figure  may  be  seen 
some  smaller  ones  of  still  another  variety,  and  also  a 
few  blood  cells,  having  a  dark  centre.  This  illustra- 
tion was  obtained  from  drawings  made  by  Professor 
Law,  of  Cornell  University,  who  examined  the  tainted 
milk. 

Figure  29  exhibits  an  aggravated  case  of  diseased 
milk.  It  was  drawn  from  a  sick  cow  in  a  distillery 
stable  in   Williamsburg,  at  the  time  of  the  notorious 


Fig.  28. 


i8o 


A  merican  Dairying. 


swill   milk  exposition   in   the  city  of   New  York,  in 

1858  or  1859.  The  view  is 
taken  from  a  microscopic 
representation  made  by  Dr. 
S.  R.  Percy,  of  New  York 
city,  as  it  appears  in  the 
annual  report  of  the  N.  Y. 
State  Medical  Society,  for 
i860. 

The  cow  had  very  high 
fever  and  inflammation  of 
the  bowels.  The  milk  was 
scanty  and  blue.  Under  the  microscope,  it  showed  the 
milk  globules  cohering,  and  also  little  bunches  of 
them  broken  down  and  decaying. 

From  the  first  two  samples  of  tainted  milk,  butter 
could  be  made,  though  it  would  churn  with  a  good 
deal  of  difficulty.  From  the  last,  butter  could  not  be 
derived,  though  it  should  be  churned  a  week,  but  they 
would  all  work  into  cheese,  though  a  less  amount 
would  be  produced  than  if  the  milk  were  sound. 

Other  and  more  detrimental  agencies,  in  the  form 
of    organic    germs,    some-  ^ 

times  get  into  milk  through 
the  food  and  drink,  or  the 
breath  of  the  cows.  Figure 
30  shows  some  that  got  into 
the  milk  through  bad  water, 
which  the  cows  drank.  They 
consist  of  two  species  of  mi- 
croscopic algae,  often  called 
"frog  spittle."  They  were 
not  seen  in  the  milk  when 
first   drawn;    but,  after  standing  a  while,  they  grew 


Milk. 


I8! 


from  the  seeds  contained  in  tlie  milk,  and  developed 
into  visible  plants.  They  affected  the  health  of  the 
cows  producing  slight  fever,  and  the  milk  had  all  the 
pecuharities  of  what  factory  men  call  "tainted  milk." 
i-igure  31  ,s  a  view  of  milk  which  contains  a  plant 
resembling  what  is  known  commonly  as  frog-spittle- 
a  green,  stringy-looking  plant  which  grows  in  sta<r- 
nant  or  very  slowly  moving  water.     In  the  lot  where 


the  cows  fed  was  a  sluggish  stream  with  stagnant 
eddies  extending  out  some  distance  from  the  brook, 
and  these  eddies  were  green  with  the  frog  spittle 
(alga.).  From  drinking  this  stagnant  water  the 
microscopic  species  here  exhibited  was  taken  into 
tne  stomach, of  the  cow  and  passed  through  the  blood 
vessels  into  the  milk,  where  it  developed  and  grew  in 
the  manner  seen.     It  could  have  got  into  the  milk  in 


j82 


American  Dairying. 


no  other  way.  It  is  but  a  diminutive  thing,  its  whole 
length  being  only  ^^  of  an  inch,  and  its  diameter  less 
than  that  of  a  spider's  web,  but  it  is  enough  to  show 
the  excretory  power  of  the  milk  gland  which  cast  the 
seed  out  of  the  blood.- 

Figure  32  shows  what  came 
in  by  feeding  distillers'  slops- 
It  is  another  sample  of  the 
same  kind  of  milk  illustrated 
by  figure  29.  The  growth 
was  made  in  24  hours,  the 
milk  being  closely  corked. 
The  organisms  were  in  im- 
mense numbers.  Every  drop 
of  milk  contained  from  5,000 
Fig.  32,  to   10,000  of  the  full  grown 

plants. 

EFFECT  OF  TREATMENT. 
The  influence  of  mental  and  physical  treatment 
received  by  cows  has  a  decided  influence  in  changing 
the  character  of  the  secretion,  and  upon  its  keeping 
quality  afterward.  The  bovine  is  not  unlike  the  human 
mother  in  this  respect.  Starvation  or  brutal  treatment, 
worrying  or  fright,  changes  the  composition  of  milk 
so  much  as  to  sicken  the  nursing  offspring,  and  in 
extreme  cases  it  amounts  to  an  absolute  poison. 
These  efl'ects  are  of  common  occurrence  with  nursing 
mothers,  and  occasionally  brutal  severity  and  fright 
aff'ect  a  cow  so  much  as  to  sicken  the  calf  which  sucks 
her  milk.  In  all  such  cases,  milk  spoils  very  rapidly, 
and  iis  composition  is  changed.  But  little  fat  is  formed 
in  it,  and  sugar  and  caseine  almost  entirely  disappear. 
Their  place  is  supplied  with  an  imperfect  secretion 


Milk.  183 

of  albumen.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  milking 
season  these  influences  do  not  appear  to  be  so  potent 
as  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  time  of  coming  in, 
but  the  effect  is  always  visible.  Milk  is  not  only  the 
most  healthy  and  perfect,  but  keeps  best  when  the  cow 
is  well  fed  and  healthy  and  quiet. 

THE  ODOR  OF  NEW  MILK— ANIMAL  ODOR. 

All  who  have  been  accustomed  to  handle  or  use  milk 
when  first  drawn  from  the  cow,  are  aware  that  it  has 
an  odor  peculiar  to  it,  at  that  stage,  but  w^liich  soon 
passes  away  if  the  milk  is  thinly  spread  out  and 
exposed  to  the  air.  There  are  many  people  who  can- 
not use  new  milk  at  all  till  after  this  peculiar  odor 
has  passed  off.  It  is  not  only  disagreeable  to  some, 
but  produces  nausea  and  other  disturbing  effects  upon 
health.  To  others  it  is  not  particularly  unpleasant, 
and  a  few  like  it.  Children  often  relish  milk  when 
new  and  warm,  and  it  seldom  does  them  any  harm  on 
account  of  its  being  new,  if  the  milk  has  come  from 
a  healthy  animal.  But  milk  is  different  before  and 
after  the  smell,  peculiar  to  it  when  first  drawn,  has 
passed  off,  and  its  effect  as  a  food  is  also  varied. 

The  milk  of  all  mammalia,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
exhibits  similar  phenomena.  The  milk  of  each  gives 
off  an  odor  while  new  and  warm  that  does  not  belong 
to  it  afterward,  and  in  each  case  the  odor  resembles 
the  mingled  smell  of  the  breath  and  insensible  per- 
spiration of  the  animal  from  which  it  has  been  derived. 
Thus  the  new  milk  of  the  cow  smells  so  much  like  her 
insensible  perspiration  that  it  is  often  spoken  of  as  a 
"  cowy  odor."  The  milk  of  the  sheep,  goat,  horse 
and  human,  sustain  similar  relations. 


iS^  Ainerican  Dairying. 

Previous  to  the  adoption  of  butter  and  cheese  fac- 
tories, the  apparently  evanescent  odor  of  new  milk 
had  attracted  but  little  attention.     Its  existence  had 
simply  been   recognized,  and  so  far  as  dairymen  were 
concerned,  little  else  was  thought  of  it.     But  when  it 
became  necessary,  or  at  least  convenient,  to  transport 
milk  to  factories  in  covered  vessels,  and  to  move  it 
while  fresh  and  warm,  this  odor  was  soon  found  to  be 
a  disturbing  element.    When  milk  was  put  into  closely 
covered  vessels,  which,  on  account  of  convenience  in 
handling,  could  not  be  filled  full,  and  carried  a  mile 
or  more  to  the  factory,  the  space  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  vessels  not  occupied  with  milk  would  invariably 
be  filled  with  a  smell  of  new  milk,  which  seemed  to 
have  accumulated  till  it  became  so  strong  as  to  be 
offensive.     Upon  uncovering  the  can,  (the  vessel  in 
which  it  was  carried,)  the  offensive  accumulation  of 
odor  was  at  once  dispersed,  and  the  farmer  supposed 
that  to  be  the  end  of  it;  but  results  in  the  factory 
proved  differently.     It  soon  became  evident  that  the 
odor    had   not   departed    from    it,   but   had   actually 
increased.     When  received  into  the  factory,  and  held 
in  large  vats  containing  several  hundred  gallons  in  a 
body;  though  exposed  to  the  open  air  and  cooled  down 
to  60  or  70  degrees,  it  still  hung  to  the  milk,  and  its 
presence   affected  the  cheese,  making  it  porous  and 
spongy,  and  giving  it  a  strong  flavor.      The  further 
fact  soon  became  apparent  that  it  varied  in  intensity 
with  the   varying    circumstances    which   affected    the 
cows.    In  hot  and  sultry  weather,  when  the  heat  of  the 
sun  was  oppressive  and  water  scarce  and  poor,  and 
especially  when  the  mercury  stood  close  to  90  in  the 
shade,  the  odor  became  intense  and  offensive,  and  the 
effect  upon  the  cheese  was  greatly  aggravated.    When- 


Milk.  185 

ever  cheese  was  made  from  milk  emitting  much  of  this 
strong  smell  the  curds  became  soft  and  spongy,  and 
instead  of  shrinking  and  settling  to  the  bottom  of  the 
vat,  as  usual,  they  were  puffed  and  swelled,  and  so 
much  distended  with  gas  as  to  float  on  the  whey  like 
cork  on  water. 

By  cooling  and  salting,  the  curds  were  worked 
down  to  a  firmer  consistency,  but  when  pressed  into 
cheese  the  difficulty  reappeared.  The  cheeses  would 
huff  up  like  loaves  of  bread  and  be,  for  a  time,  about 
as  porous.  As  soon  as  they  began  to  cure  they  gave 
off  offensive  gases  and  soon  went  to  decay.  The  whey 
and  the  curd  while  it  lay  in  the  vat,  emitted  foul  odors 
which  increased  in  intensity  as  the  work  went  on. 
This  state  of  things  became  quite  general,  and  at 
times  was  almost  co-extensive  with  the  existence  of 
cheese  factories.  As  the  weather  became  cooler,  and 
water  purer  and  fresher,  the  milk  gradually  became 
better,  and  the  offensive  odor  died  away.  This  pecu- 
liarity in  the  state  of  milk  comes  and  goes  with  every 
season,  and  often  many  times  in  the  same  season. 
Milk  of  this  character  is  now  managed  with  so  much 
more  skill  than  formerly,  that  the  disastrous  effects 
upon  the  cheese  are  to  a  large  extent  avoided.  But 
the  fact  is  now  generally  recognized  by  dairymen  con- 
nected with  factories,  and  especially  by  manufacturers, 
that  milk  fresh  from  the  cow  does  not  make  as  good 
cheese  as  it  does  after  it  has  stood  till  the  animal  odor 
has  escaped,  and  that,  however  much  the  method  of 
working  milk,  that  has  from  any  cause  become  affected 
with  odor,  has  been  improved,  the  cheese  made  from 
it  is  never  equal  in  flavor  or  keeping  to  that  made 
from  milk  not  so  affected. 

The   influence  of  animal    odor   upon   butter  is  as 


1 86  Auicricaii  Dairying. 

deleterious  as  upon  cheese.  If  the  odor  of  new  milk 
is  carried  into  cream  and  thence  worked  into  butter, 
as  it  often  is  by  cooling  new  milk  too  low  and  too 
suddenly,  the  butter  has  a  modified  flavor  in  conse- 
quence. The  fine  aromatic  and  clear  and  delicious 
taste  of  the  olein  and  its  essential  oils,  which  are 
developed  in  butter  from  milk  free  from  such  odor, 
are  obscured  and  modified  so  much  as  not  to  be  recog- 
nized, and  a  strong  and  indistinct  flavor,  as  if  some- 
thing foreign  and  impure  had  been  mingled  w^ith  the 
butter,  takes  the  place  of  the  naturally  agreeable  taste. 

In  like  manner,  butter  made  from  milk  which  has 
become  affected  with  odor  from  a  feverish  condition 
of  the  cows,  or  from  carrying  closely  covered,  takes 
on  an  unnatural,  strong  and  unpleasant  taste  and 
a  greasy  appearance,  unless  the  odor  is  removed  before 
the  cream  is  raised. 

The  appearance  of  these  new  phenomena  in  the 
handling  and  working  of  milk,  brought  into  use  a 
new  set  of  terms.  As  the  odor,  Avhich  had  formerly 
been  supposed  to  belong  only  to  new  milk  while 
warm,  began  to  increase  from  the  influence  of  weather, 
food,  treatment,  and  the  new  modes  of  manipulating 
milk,  and  to  become  intense,  it  smelled  so  much  like 
the  perspiration  and  breath  of  cows  as  to  show  an 
unmistakable  animal  origin,  and  hence  it  has  become 
generally  known  as  "animal  odor,"  and  this  phrase  is 
now  in  general  use  among  dairymen  in  the  United 
States,  to  indicate  this  peculiar  odor  of  milk  in  all  its 
stages.  When  it  becomes  very  intense,  it  often  savors 
so  much  of  the  odors  of  putrefactive  fermentation  as 
to  lead  to  the  supposition  that  actual  decomposition  of 
the  milk  has  begun  ;  and  hence  milk  in  this  advanced 
stage  is  said  to  be  tainted,  though  its  condition  is  in 


Milk.  187 

fact  quite  different  from  that  of  other  animal  matter 
when  we  speak  of  it  as  tainted.  But  the  apparent 
analoiry  of  the  two  cases  has  brought  the  phrase  "tainted 
milk'"'  into  extensive  and  familiar  use;  and  owing 
to  the  fact  that  curds  from  this  kind  of  milk  usually 
rise  to  the  surface  of  the  whey,  the  phrases  "tainted 
milk,"  and  "floating  curds,"  have  become  correlative 
terms,  and  the  latter  has  had  about  as  wide  an  appli- 
cation as  the  former,  which  is  now  by  common  con- 
sent used  to  signify  milk  from  which  any  strong  odor 
is  emitted.  The  three  phrases  "  animal  odor,"  *'  tainted 
milk"  and  "floating  curds,"  have  thus  each  become 
technical  terms  and  assumed  a  permanent  place  in  the 
dairy  literature  of  the  country. 

To  the  outsider  it  may  seem  like  a  waste  of  words 
to  occupy  time  in  talking  about  the  smell  of  a  thing, 
but  to  the  American  dairyman,  the  phrase  "animal 
odor,"  is  one  of  dreadful  significance.  It  reminds 
him  of  a  bitter  enemy,  one  which,  however  much  he 
may  aff"ect  to  despise,  he  dare  not  ignore.  It  refers 
him  back  to  losses  incurred,  which  may  be  estimated 
by  millions,  from  a  perishable  inclination  and  other 
defects  it  has  given  to  his  cheese.  He  recognizes  in  it 
the  most  active  agent  in  the  destruction  of  his  butter, 
and  oftener  than  anything  else,  the  cause  of  that  cry 
which  has  become  to  him  disheartening  and  dreadful, 
from  the  frequency  with  which  it  is  applied  to  his 
goods,  of  "  off*  flavor."  However  trifling  the  odor 
emanating  from  milk  may  seem,  it  really  strikes  back 
to  a  cause  of  defect  in  both  butter  and  cheese,  than 
which,  none  is  more  potent.  If,  from  ignorance  of  its 
power,  it  has  not  been  appreciated  in  times  past,  the 
introduction  of  the  factory  system  has  revealed  its 
might  and  made  a  terrible  display  of  its  destructive 


iSS  American  Dairying. 

energy.  Dairymen  now  are  aware  that  there  is  some- 
thing in  it  that  needs  looking  after.  It  is  now  begin- 
ning to  attract  the  attention  it  deserves.  At  tlie  fire- 
side of  dairymen,  at  social  knots,  at  the  conventions 
so  often  held  in  the  interest  of  their  vocation,  "  animal 
odor  "  and  '*  tainted  milk,"  are  never-ending  themes 
of  discussion. 

Just  w^hat  animal  odor  is,  or  what  it  is  derived  from, 
has  not  been  well  understood  either  by  practical  men 
or  scientists,  though  many  have  been  the  speculations 
in  regard  to  it,  and  multifarious  have  been  the  devices 
to  dispose  of  it  and  counteract  its  effects. 

By  some  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  proper  and 
legitimate  smell  of  warm  milk.  To  this  it  may  be 
objected  that  the  same  cow's  milk  even,  does  not  at  all 
times  have  the  same  odor  when  Avarm,  while,  under 
some  circumstances,  it  disappears  entirely  while  warm, 
and  under  others,  it  increases  as  the  temperature  falls. 
Others  have  supposed  it  to  be  the  result  of  the  pecu- 
liar warmth  of  the  animal  body,  and  great  pains  have 
been  taken  to  get  the  "animal  heat,"  as  it  is  called, 
out  of  the  milk.  This  supposition  has  found  a  great 
many  adherents,  and  many  cling  to  it  still.  A  wider 
mistake  could  hardly  have  been  made,  nor  a  more  base- 
less theory  be  imagined. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  difference  between 
animal  heat  and  any  other.  All  heat,  whether  gener- 
ated in  the  animal  body  or  out  of  it,  is  the  same. 
There  is  but  one  kind  of  heat,  from  whatever  source 
derived.  This  fact  is  too  well  known  to  need  demon- 
stration. 

In  the  second  place,  heat  and  odor  are  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  each  other.  The  former  is  only  a  condition 
of  a  thing,  while  the  latter  is  a  thing  of  itself — a  sub- 


Milk.  i8g 

stance  it  must  be,  to  be  appreciated.  How  idle  then 
to  suppose  that  warmth  generated  in  -the  body  of  a 
cow  should  give  rise  to  any  particular  kind  of  odor. 
Yet  the  number  of  dairymen  who  still  persist  in  using 
"animal  heat"  and  "animal  odor"  as  synonymous 
terms,  or  in  considering  the  former  as  the  cause  of  tlic 
latter,  is  legion. 

A  simple  experiment  will  illustrate  how  untenable 
both  of  the  preceding  suppositions  are.  Upon  an 
occasion,  which  accidentally  occurred,  when  my  cows 
were  giving  milk  strong  with  animal  odor,  I  made  a 
small  filter  containing  pulverized  charcoal  and  passed 
the  milk  through  it  as  soon  as  drawn.  Upon  emerging 
from  the  filter  at  a  temperature  of  90  degrees,  it  was 
perfectly  delicious,  both  in  taste  and  smell.  Though 
retaining  nearly  all  its  animal  heat,  it  had  lost  all  its 
animal  odor.  By  continuing  the  use  of  the  filter,  the 
coal  soon  became  saturated  with  the  odor,  giving 
unmistakable  evidences  of  its  presence,  and  showing 
that  animal  odor,  or  the  odor  peculiar  to  new  milk, 
does  not  belong  to  the  milk  itself,  since  it  can  be  sep- 
arated from  it,  leaving  the  milk  free  from  any  such 
smell — the  milk  in  the  meantime  being  unchanged. 

In  attempting  to  account  for  the  strong  odor  which 
occurs  in  hot  sultry  weather,  it  has  been  assumed  by 
some,  that  a  putrefactive  change  begins  in  the  milk 
the  moment  it  is  discharged  from  the  udder,  and  in 
some  cases,  even  before  it  leaves  that  organ.  If  this 
supposition  were  true,  ammonia  or  nitrogen,  in  some 
form,  should  be  given  off.  But  tests  have  shown  that 
no  nitrogen  escapes  in  any  form,  either  combined  or 
free,  from  what  is  known  as  tainted  milk.  The  dis- 
charges have  been  carbonic  acid  gas  mingled  with  the 
peculiar  odor. 


ipO  American  Dairying. 

That  no  change  of  the  character  supposed  occurs  in 
milk  under  the  circumstances  described,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  milk  freed  from  odor  by  heating  a 
little  above  blood  heat,  even  after  it  has  been  pretty 
badly  tainted,  throws  up  a  very  nice  sweet  cream  and 
makes  excellent  butter,  and  the  further  fact  that  such 
milk  so  heated  afterwards  makes  delicious  and  pure 
flavored  cheese  that  will  keep  and  hold  its  flavor  as  long 
as  milk  that  has  not  been  tainted.  These  facts  amount 
to  a  demonstration,  inasmuch  as  it  would  be  altogether 
impossible  to  make  a  nice  flavored  and  long  keeping 
cheese  out  of  milk  in  a  state  of  actual  putrefaction. 
Hence  it  becomes  necessary  to  look  for  the  basis  of 
animal  odor  in  some  other  direction. 

Having  observed  that  this  peculiar  odor  escapes 
more  rapidly  as  the  temperature  rises,  and  more  slowly 
as  it  falls,  till  ceasing  to  escape  at  all,  it  remains  per- 
manently in  the  milk,  the  writer  at  first  regarded  it  as 
a  gas  emanating  from  the  waste  matter  of  the  body, 
especially,  as  under  different  circumstances  its  odor 
corresponded  to  that  of  excretory  matter.  At  low 
temperatures,  it  appeared  to  assume  a  liquid  form,  for 
though  it  ceased  to  give  off"  any  odor,  its  presence 
was  made  manifest  by  a  flavor  corresponding  to  the 
odor. 

Prof  Caldwell,  of  Cornell  University,  suggested 
that  its  behavior  was  that  of  a  very  volatile  oil,  rather 
than  of  a  gas. 

To  test  this  suggestion,  a  sample  of  milk  in  which 
odor  had  purposely  been  allowed  to  accumulate  was 
distilled  and  a  small  quantity  of  a  clear  limpid  oil, 
with  a  slightly  yellow  tinge,  was  obtained.  At  35 
degrees  (F.)  it  was  as  fluid  as  water  and  emitted  no 
odor,  but  upon   warming  a  little,  it  quickly  assumed 


Milk,  ipt 

an  aeriform  condition  and  disappeared  with  an  intense 
smell  of  new  milk — the  genuine  animal  odor. 

A  few  experiments  demonstrating  that  the  odor  in 
question  is  an  extremely  volatile  oil,  the  next  query- 
was,  how  does  the  oil  get  into  t!.e  milk  ?  If  the  odor 
disappeared  upon  cooling  and  exposing  to  the  air,  and 
never  reappeared,  the  inference  would  be  that  it  was 
a  secretion  of  the  milk  glands,  the  same  as  the  fatty 
matters  in  butter.  The  investigator  might  at  least  be 
satisfied  with  referring  it  to  such  an  origin.  But  the 
formation  of  the  oil  does  not  stop  with  the  discharge 
of  the  milk  from  the  udder.  It  continues  to  form  out 
of  the  udder  the  same  as  in  it,  if  the  milk  is  kept 
warm.  As  the  temperature  of  the  milk  falls,  it  forms 
more  and  more  slowly  till  it  ceases  entirely.  It  only 
fails  to  become  intense  because  being  open  to  the  air 
it  escapes.  Cover  milk  closely  and  keep  it  warm,  and 
the  odor  will  soon  become  as  strong  and  even  stronger 
than  in  new  milk.  Nor  is  its  formation  confined  to 
the  udder  or  the  milk.  The  same  odor  appears  to  be 
all  the  time  escaping  in  all  the  excretions  of  the  body — 
the  breath,  the  liquid  and  solid  faeces,  and  profusely 
in  the  perspiration.  The  odors  in  these  different  cases 
vary  a  little  from  that  in  new  m  Ik  as  well  as  from 
each  other,  and  the  odor  from  milk  in  different  cir- 
cumstances differs  in  the  same  way.  The  milk  of  a 
cow  smells  differently  when  she  is  quiet  from  what  it 
does  when  she  is  worried;  difTerently  when  slie  is 
feverish  from  what  it  does  when  she  is  not ;  and  odor 
formed  in  the  udder  is  different  from  that  formed  out 
of  the  udder  w];en  the  milk  is  closely  covered ;  yet  its 
general  characteristics  are  so  analagous  as  to  be 
unmistakably  the  same  thing.  The  samples  of  oil 
obtained  by  distilling  milk  under  these  different  cir- 


Ig2  A^nericaji  Dairying. 

cumstances  cannot,  while  liquid,  be  distinguished 
from  each  other,  and  they  all  alike  fly  off  in  vapor 
upon  being  warmed,  but  in  taking  on  an  ethereal  con- 
dition each  gives  off"  exactly  the  same  odor  as  the  milk 
it  was  derived  from. 

Again,  the  milk  of  a  single  cow,  if  feverish,  would 
soon  bring  a  600  gallon  vat  full  of  good  milk  into  the 
same  condition  as  itself,  if  it  is  kept  warm.  The  milk 
of  a  half  dozen  or  more  feverish  cows  would,  to  be 
sure,  do  it  sooner  than  one.  But  the  fact  that  a  small 
mess  of  milk  tainted  with  any  modification  of  animal 
odor  will  infect  a  large  mass,  is  a  fact  well  known  and 
is  a  point  to  be  noted.  Another  significant  fact  is,  that 
after  milk  has  been  boiled,  no  odor  will  accumulate  in 
it  when  closely  covered,  showing  that  the  cause  of  the 
odor  is  destroyed  by  heat. 

Since  the  oil  on  which  animal  odor  depends  multi- 
plies independently  of  the  animal  body,  being  formed 
in  milk  as  v/ell  after  as  before  it  leaves  the  udder; 
since  its  formation  increases  and  diminishes  with  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  temperature  of  milk,  till  the  ulti- 
mate cause  is  quieted  with  cold  or  removed  with  heat; 
and  since  a  small  mess  of  aff"ected  milk  spreads  its  pecu- 
liar characteristics  through  a  large  mass  with  great 
rapidity,  obeying  all  the  laws  of  a  ferment,  it  is  deemed 
a  safe  conclusion  to  infer  that  the  peculiar  odor  of 
new  milk,  and  what  is  generally  known  among  dairy- 
men as  animal  odor  and  taint  in  milk,  are  produced  by 
a  volatile  oil  formed  in  the  milk  by  the  action  of  a 
peculiar  yeast,  which  is  present  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  according  to  the  circumstances  under  which  it 
is  produced.  As  in  other  cases  of  fermentation,  the 
yeast  or  ferment,  which  is  the  active  cause  of  change 
and  new  products,  has  been  found  to  consist  of  living 


Milk.  ipj 

organic  germs ;  so  in  this  case,  it  may  fairly*be  inferred, 
from  the  close  analogy  in  action  and  results,  that  the 
growth  and  multiplication  of  organic  germs  are  the 
cause  from  which  the  peculiar  odors  of  milk  are 
derived. 

The  circumstances  which  contribute  to  an  increase 
of  odor  in  milk,  before  it  is  drawn,  are  very  numerous. 
They  are  in  general  such  as  disturb  the  health  or  heat 
the  blood  of  the  cow,  and  these  disturbances  may  con- 
sist of  mental  as  well  as  physical  treatment.  The  fol- 
lowing may  be  specified  as  among  the  most  common 
causes  :  Oppressive  heat  of  the  sun — especially  in  sul- 
try weather,  and  when  scanty  feed  occasions  too  much 
exposure  of  the  cows  to  fill  themselves.  Taint  in  milk 
is  very  apt  to  increase  and  diminish  with  the  rise  and 
fall  of  mercury  in  the  thermometer — a  circumstance 
which  shows  that  in  this  latitude  cows  need  protec- 
tion from  the  hot  sun  in  summer  as  well  as  from  the 
cold  winds  in  winter.  Stagnant  water — this  is  a  very 
prominent  and  efficient  cause  in  producing  an  increase 
of  odor.  Scarcity  of  water — when  cows  lack  a  full 
supply  of  water,  or  when  it  is  not  convenient  of  access, 
the  odor  of  milk  is  very  soon  affected.  So  also  w^ith 
dogging  cows,  driving  fast,  or  too  long  journeys,  or  in 
any  way  worrying  them.  A  slow  pace  and  short  jour- 
neys for  cows  in  hot  weather  are  required  for  good  milk. 
Worrying  or  in  any  way  heating  the  blood,  violent 
usage,  pain,  uneasiness,  fright,  solicitude,  sore  teats, 
garget,  cow-pox,  being  in  heat,  any  disease,  and 
especially  such  as  produces  feverishness ;  breathing  bad 
air,  as  tlie  odor  from  carrion  or  the  air  of  foul  and  close 
stables,  or  of  a  filthy  barn  yard;  gorging,  as  when 
cows  break  into  forbidden  enclosures  or  are  fed  with 
more  food  of  an}-  kind  tlian   they  can  digest;  feeding 


IC}4  American  Dairying, 

improper  ipod,  or  food  in  a  state  of  decay  or  highly 
fermented,  as  the  refuse  of  the  dairy  in  a  stale  condi- 
tion ;  the  slops  of  the  distillery  and  brewery  ;  decayed 
grass  which  has  lain  on  the  ground  during  the  winter ; 
coarse  and  sour  grass,  grown  on  swampy  places  or  in 
low  moist  ground;  rank  green  clover  in  the  early 
stages  of  its  growth ;  eating  strong  scented  or  medi- 
cinal food ;  going  too  long  without  milking ;  suddenly 
checking  perspiration  by  exposure  to  cold  or  wet. 

The  principal  causes  which  produce  bad  odors  in 
milk,  before  it  is  taken  from  the  cow,  and  which  after- 
wards become  the  cause  of  taint,  are  oppressive  heat 
and  stagnant  water. 

Of  the  causes  which  increase  the  odor  in  milk  after 
it  is  drawn,  the  principal  one  is  keeping  the  warm 
milk  closely  covered,  so  that  the  odor  which  Avas  in  it 
when  it  was  drawn,  and  that  which  afterward  forms, 
cannot  escape. 

Another  very  efficient  cause  is  defective  cleansing 
of  dairy  utensils.  Another,  cooling  too  rapidly,  or 
not  soon  enough,  or  not  low  enough  ;  exposing  the 
cans  containing  milk  to  the  hot  sun  while  in  transit; 
exposing  milk  to  foul  odors  at  the  farm  yard  and  at 
the  factory;  keeping  milk  in  large  masses  without 
sufficient  stirring,  and  various  other  similar  defects 
in  the  care  of  milk,  contribute  to  augment  the  develop- 
ment of  odor.  Though  it  is  no  easy  task  to  keep  clear 
of  all  these  causes  of  injury,  it  is  necessary  to  do  so 
in  order  to  have  perfect  milk. 

Again,  when  dairymen  appreciate  that  the  cause  of 
the  odoriferous  oil  in  milk  is  a  ferment,  it  will  be  as 
easily  wiped  out  as  the  oil  itself.  The  laws  which 
control  the  propagation  and  destruction  of  ferments 
are  well  known.    They  originate  from  seeds  as  distinct 


Milk.  tgs 

as  the  seeds  of  grain,  and  are  like  them  in  some 
respects,  but  more  than  equal  them  in  tenacity  of  life. 
The  seeds  of  the  cereals  retain  their  vitality  under 
great  exposure  and  severe  treatment  while  they  remain 
6.rj  seeds,  but  the  moment  they  germinate,  they  are 
easily  perilled  ;  their  strong  hold  on  life  is  gone.  A 
little  exposure  to  heat  or  cold,  wet  or  drought,  or  to 
a  little  violence,  and  they  become  extinct  at  once.  So 
with  the  seeds  of  ferments,  while  they  remain  spores 
they  retain  their  vitality  >iinder  almost  any  vicissitude, 
but  the  moment  they  become  developed  into  growing 
fungi,  their  destruction,  like  that  of  sprouted  grain,  is 
very  easy.  Though  they  require  oxygen  in  the  com- 
position of  their  food,  they  cannot  endure  it  on  their 
surfaces.  Though  they  require  warmth  to  develop, 
they  can  bear  but  a  certain  amount  of  it.  The  fer- 
ments which  flourish  so  luxuriantly  in  milk  can  only 
do  so  when  protected  from  the  attack  of  oxygen  by 
a  liquid  envelope.  The  mushrooms  that  spring  up 
under  cover  of  the  dark  and  dampness  of  night  to 
wilt  before  the  light  and  dryer  atmosphere  of  day,  are 
more  tenacious  of  life  than  the  germs  ^vhich  constitute 
the  ferments  in  milk ;  they  perish  instanter  when 
exposed  to  a  little  too  much  heat,  or  to  the  corroding 
influence  of  the  oxygen  in  the  air. 

One  of  the  most  effectual  barriers  now  in  the  way 
of  further  improvement  in  factory  cheese  making,  lies 
in  carrying  milk  warm  and  closely  confined  to  the 
factory.  The  objectionable  odor  is  developed  in  the 
journey  to  the  factory.  Milk,  in  which  a  strong  taint  is 
liable  to  develop,  appears,  when  first  drawn,  scarcely 
different  from  sound  milk.  It  would  be  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish them,  yet  when  it  arrives  at  the  factory  the 
afl'ected  milk  is  so  full  of  odor  as  to  become  offensive. 


ig6  American  Dairymg. 

To  avoid  this  increase  of  odor  on  its  way  to  the  factory, 
is  the  most  important  point,  next  to  avoidins^  the  origi- 
nal cause  in  the  care  of  the  cow.  Having  discovered 
that  the  odor  is  simply  a  very  volatile  oil  that  is  all  the 
time  forming  and  escaping  at  common  temperatures, 
three  ways  of  counteracting  it  suggest  themselves. 
One  is  to  cool  so  low  as  to  prevent  the  action  of  the 
ferment  by  which  it  is  formed.  This  will  stop  its 
increase,  but  it  will  retard  the  escape  of  what  is 
already  in  the  milk,  and  if  cooled  low  enough  will 
condense  it  into  a  liquid,  and  give  an  animal  flavor 
instead  of  an  animal  odor.  A  second  way  is  to  give 
it  a  free  chance  for  escaping.  It  will  then  pass  away 
without  help  as  it  is  formed,  leaving  the  milk  in  its 
original  purity.  A  third  way  is  to  hurry  its  exit  by 
heating,  and  if  occasion  requires  raising  the  heat  so 
high  as  to  destroy  the  ferment  and  remove  the  cause 
entirely. 

In  discussing  the  subject  of  the  so-called  animal 
odor  in  milk,  it  has  been  deemed  appropriate  to  speak 
thus  fully — first,  because  the  investigations  in  regard 
to  its  nature  and  origin  will  be  new  to  many  read- 
ers ;  second,  because  the  multiplicity  of  views  in 
regard  to  it  among  dairymen  seems  to  demand  a 
definite  solution  and  explanation  so  clear  and  full  that 
it  could  be  understood  and  appreciated  by  all ;  and 
thirdly,  because  the  important  part  it  plays  in  modi- 
fying the  quality  of  butter  and  cheese,  require  that  it 
should,  if  possible,  be  well  enough  known  to  be  con- 
trolled and  counteracted. 

The  discovery  of  this  new  oil  in  milk,  and  its  mode 
of  development  in  the  bodies  of  animals,  has  a  sig- 
nificance wider  than  its  application  to  the  dairy  inter- 
est.    Its  identification  with  odors  in  the  perspiration 


Milk.  igj 

and  breath  ;  its  formation  outside  of  the  body  of  the 
cow  as  well  as  inside,  show  that  its  origin  is  indepen- 
dent of  the  vital  functions  of  the  animal,  and  its  mode 
of  development  being  in  such  strict  accordance  with 
the  action  of  ferments,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  it  is 
the  product  of  the  development  of  organic  germs.  All 
this  points  to  the  conclusion  that  extensive  changes 
take  place  in  the  bodies  of  the  bovine  race  under  the 
influence  of  a  ferment,  which  has  yet  proved  too  minute 
for  discovery ;  for  this  odor,  and  consequently  the  pro- 
duction of  the  oil  it  is  derived  from,  is  not  confined  to 
the  body  of  the  cow.  It  exists  in  the  bodies  of  the 
entire  bovine  species.  In  the  horse  there  is  the  same 
accordance  between  the  odors  of  its  new  milk  and  the 
perspiration  and  breath  of  the  species,  establishing  an 
identity  in  the  cause  of  their  origin  in  the  equine  race 
with  that  in  the  bovine.  In  all  the  mammals  we  are 
acquainted  with,  similar  phenomena  may  be  discovered, 
which,  by  analogy,  show  further  that  the  peculiar  odor 
in  the  perspiration  of  animals  generally  is  due  to  an 
oil,  the  same  as  in  the  cow  and  other  known  mammals, 
and  that  this  oil  has  the  same  volatility  and  a  similar 
origin.  The  formation  of  an  oil  on  such  an  extensive 
scale  in  the  bodies  of  animals,  which  assumes  an  ethe- 
real form  below  blood  heat,  indicates  a  specific  pur- 
pose in  nature,  and  naturally  raises  a  query  as  to 
what  that  purpose  is — whether,  indeed,  this  attenuated 
condition  is  not  a  necessary  one  for  the  most  easy 
assimilation  or  utilization  of  the  elements  of  food  in 
the  bodies  of  animals,  and,  while  small  portions  of 
it  are  escaping  in  perspiration,  breath  and  faeces, 
whether  much  larger  portions  are  not  being  employed 
in  the  economy  of  animal  life.  Considering  the  fact 
that   the    digestion    of   milk    with    rennet,    and,   by 


ig8  Auierican  Dairying. 

analogy,  other  digestion  is  carried  on  by  the  agency 
of  organic  germs,  the  questions  are  raised  whether 
other  changes  carried  on  in  the  animal  body,  which 
are  supposed  to  be  the  result  of  the  vital  functions  of 
the  animal,  may  not  be  due  to  a  similar  agency ; 
whether  the  influence  of  the  vital  force  in  animal 
bodies  is  not  in  fact  confined  to  much  narrower  limits 
than  we  have  been  accustomed  to  ascribe  to  it ;  and 
whether  it  is  not  itself  controlled  to  a  large  extent  by 
infinitesimal  lives  acting  within  the  animal  organism. 


BUTTER  MAKING. 


In  the  dietary  of  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
globe,  butter  holds  a  high  place.  With  the  cultivated 
and  refined  it  is  everywhere  recognized  as  one  of  the 
crowning  luxuries  of  a  perfect  meal.  The  tables  of 
wealth  and  refinement  are  never  complete  without  it. 
Its  absence  would  create  a  void  that  nothing  would 
fill.  But  it  is  the  perfect  article  that  takes  this  strong 
hold  of  the  appetites  of  men.  The  imperfect  article 
is  despised.  Nothing  could  be  more  indicative  of  the 
esteem  in  which  the  extremes  are  held  than  the  terms 
used  to  designate  them — "  gilt  edged  "  and  "  grease." 
Commercially,  it  assumes  large  proportions.  It  is  an 
article  of  extensive   traffic  and  interests  everybody, 


Butter  Making.  igg 

for  every  family  either  makes  or  buys  it.  An  article 
in  such  general  use  and  general  esteem  ought  to  be  so 
well  understood  as  to  insure,  in  all  respects,  perfection 
in  its  manufacture,  so  that  nothing  but  a  perfect  article 
would  ever  be  sent  from  any  farmer's  home.  There 
is  the  greater  necessity  for  this,  since  its  commercial 
value  depends  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  palate  is 
pleased.  But  experience  does  not  run  in  this  direction. 
Perfection  is  the  exception  instead  of  the  rule,  and  it 
is  not  very  strange  that  it  is  so,  for  the  art  of  butter- 
making  is  an  intricate  operation.  Its  success  depends 
upon  a  succession  of  little  acts,  each  one  of  which  is 
liable,  when  not  performed  aright,  to  alter  the  whole 
character  of  the  production.  The  correct  performance 
of  all  these  little  acts  involves  an  acquaintance  with 
the  properties  of  milk  which  the  present  extent  of 
practical  and  scientific  knowledge  renders  it  difficult 
to  acquire.  We  will  notice  in  detail  some  of  these 
little  acts. 

VESSELS  FOR  SETTING  MILK. 

There  are  three  varieties  of  vessels  extensively  used 
for  containing  milk  while  the  cream  is  rising,  and  each 
has  its  advocates. 

The  small  tin  pan,  holding  eight  or  ten  quarts, 
which,  until  a  few  years  since,  held  sway  almost  with- 
out rival,  is  still  largely  in  use.  Its  form  is  too  familiar 
to  need  any  description.  It  has  answered  the  purpose 
well,  and  some  of  the  finest  butter  known,  is  still  made 
from  milk  set  in  these  pans.  They  have  some  advant- 
ages over  any  other  vessel  in  use ;  they  cool  the  milk 
readily  without  the  use  of  water;  they  are  light  and 
easy  to  handle  and  cleanse ;  their  small  size  adapts 
them  to  situations  where  no  other  kind  would  suit ; 


200 


A  merican  Dairying. 


they  are  conveniently  stored  away  when  not  in  use, 
and  are  cheap  and  durable.  An  improvement  in  tlie 
manufacture  of  these  pans  has  enhanced  their  value. 
They  are  now  made  without  seams  by  pressing  sheet- 
iron  into  the  proper  form  and  then  tinning  it  heavily 
afterwards.  Thus  made,  they  are  more  durable  and 
very  easy  to  clean,  there  being  no  crevices  for  sour 
milk  to  lodge  in.  They  are  better  adapted  to  small 
dairies  than  large  ones,  as  in  a  dairy  of  much  size, 
the  large  number  required,  necessitates  an  immense 
amount  of  handling  to  cleanse  and  put  in  place,  and 
to  fill  and  empty. 

To  obviate  this  large  amount  of 
labor,  and  as  many  believe,  to  im- 
prove the  quality  of  butter,  deep  pails 
are  used  where  pools  of  cool  water  can 
be  had  to  set  them  in,  to  prevent  the 
milk  from  remaining  warm  too  long. 
They  are  made  of  sheets  of  tin  24x20 
inches,  and  are  usually  19  inches  high, 
and  nearly  eight  inches  in  diameter. 
The  merits  of  this  mode  of  setting 
milk  consist  in  cooling  large  masses 
of  milk  quickly  and  in  requiring  less 
room  and  less  labor  than  the  small 
pans. 

Another  form  of  vessel  for  setting 
milk,  which  has  gained  considerable 
reputation,  is  the  large  square  or 
rectangular  pan.  There  are  several 
varieties  of  this  pan  in  use,  some  of  which  vary  but 
little  from  each  other.  The  main  points  as  well  as 
the  points  of  difference,  will  be  understood  by  a  brief 
description. 


Fie.  33- 


Butter  Making.  20  T 


%b 


The  one  first  introduced  contains  a  large  rectangular 
pan  within  another,  with  a  space  of  half  an  inch  or  so 
between  them  to  admit  water.  They  are  made  of  very 
heavy  tin,  and  not  more  than  six  or  eight  inches  deep, 
and  of  a  size  suited  to  the  amount  of  milk  they  are 
desired  to  hold.  The  outer  pan  may  rest  upon  a  frame, 
or  a  table,  as  preferred,  and  the  inner  one  hangs  upon 
its  edges,  is  movable  and  can  be  taken  off  at  pleasure, 
to  wash  or  repair,  if  there  is  occasion.  A  small  stream 
of  water  is  led  by  a  pipe  into  one  corner  of  the  lower 
pan,  and  after  filling  the  space  between  the  two,  is 
made  to  pass  out  at  the  opposite  corner. 

Another  pan  is  made  with  two  bottoms,  one-half 
inch  apart,  with  water-tight  divisions  extending  nearly 
across  the  pan  lengthwise  and  at  alternate  ends  butting 
against  the  end  of  the  pan,  thus  forming  a  channel 
that  compels  the  water,  which  is  let  into  the  space 
between  the  bottoms  at  one  corner,  to  flow  back  and 
forth  across  the  pan  lengthwise,  till  it  is  let  out  at  the 
other  corner  on  the  same  end  where  it  enters.  The 
discharge  orifice  is  raised  above  the  bottom,  so  as  to 
keep  the  space  always  full,  and  the  inlet  is  higher  than 
the  discharge  to  give  the  water  head.  The  ingress 
and  egress  of  water  is  regulated  by  faucets,  and  a 
faucet  is  also  placed  at  one  end  of  the  pan  to  draw  off 
all  the  water  between  the  bottoms  when  desired.  The 
pan  is  one  solid  structure,  there  being  no  inside  pan  to 
lift  out  as  in  the  one  first  described.  It  is  designed  to 
rest  on  a  table  made  with  a  top  of  matched  boards  to 
keep  the  warm  air  of  the  room  from  the  bottom  of  the 
pan. 

Another  style  of  pan  has  straight  sides  and  ends  and 
a  rounded  bottom,  making  it  easy  to  clean  ;  another 
is  arranged   so  as  to  set  one  above  the  other  to  save 


202 


A))icrican  Dairying. 


room  in  the  dairy;  another  has  its  sides  made  of  iron 
with  the  inside  lined  with  porcelain,  a  very  favorable 
feature  for  cleansing  the  vessel  and  keeping  milk 
sweet ;  still  another  has  compartments  in  the  interior 
adapting  them  to  holding  variable  quantities  of  milk, 
see  figure  34.  All  the  varieties  of  this  sort  of  pan 
would  make  a  very  long  list.  They  have  one  feature 
common  to  them  all,  viz.:     A  pan  within  a  pan  and 


Fig.34> 

water  between  them.  Recently,  for  creamery  use, 
pans  involving  this  principle  are  made  of  very  large 
size,  in  which  the  outer  envelope  is  made  of  wood,  the 
whole  resembling  a  large  vat  for  manufacturing  cheese. 
They  are  designed  to  use  large  quantities  of  water  for 
rapidly  cooling  large  messes  of  milk.  In  some  fac- 
tories a  third  pan  is  employed  which  is  suspended 
within  the  one  containing  the  milk.  Its  edges  rest 
upon  the  top  of  the  milk  pan  and  its  bottom  goes 


Butter  Making.  20J 

down  nearly  to  the  milk.  This  third  pan  is  filled  with 
cold  running  water,  to  aid  in  cooling  the  milk  by  cool- 
ing the  air  above  it.  By  elevating  these  large  pans  so 
that  milk  can  be  spouted  from  them  to  the  manu- 
facturing vats,  they  are  exceedingly  convenient  for 
creamery  use,  and  have  proved  very  successful  in  turn- 
ing out  a  fine  quality  of  butter,  but  in  the  creameries 
where  I  have  been  able  to  get  the  statistics  the  yield 
has  not  been  satisfactory,  but  I  can  see  no  good  reason 
why,  if  properly  arranged,  the  quantity  should  not 
also  prove  satisfactory. 

In  attempting  to  set  forth  the  effects  of  the  different 
methods  of  setting  milk,  we  have  a  multitude  of 
difficulties  to  encounter.  Successful  butter  making 
depends  upon  proper  attention  to  a  great  many  details 
which  are  liable  to  be  varied  singly  or  in  combina- 
tion. It  thus  often  becomes  almost  impossible  for  the 
operator  to  determine  with  precision  how  much  this 
or  that  variation  has  affected  his  butter,  and  even 
whether  the  effect  has  been  for  good  or  for  evil.  The 
vessel  for  setting  milk  is  but  one  of  these  items  which 
may  be  greatly  varied  by  attendant  circumstances. 
The  form  and  size  of  vessel  to  be  preferred  should 
have  reference  to  accompanying  conditions. 

CREAM. 

Butter  is  the  aggregated  fat  of  milk  which  is  first 
known  as  cream.  Pure  cream  consists  of  the  globules 
in  milk  which  rise  to  the  surface  on  standing.  These 
globules,  as  has  already  been  observed,  are  composed 
principally  of  three  varieties  of  fatty  matter — stearine, 
palmatine  and  oleine,  enclosed  in  a  membraneous  pel- 
licle. Butter  is  formed  from  them  by  removing  the 
pellicle  and  collecting  the  fat  into  a  mass.     Occasion- 


20^  American  Dairying. 

ally,  particles  of  fat  are  mingled  with  them  which 
have  no  pellicle.  This  is  especially  true  with  respect 
to  the  lighter  fats  which  are  derived  from  the  essential 
oils  in  the  food  of  the  cow.  The  naked  fat  appears  in 
very  minute  particles.  Water  also  enters  more  or  less 
into  the  composition  of  the  milk  globules,  apparently 
taking  the  place  of  a  part  of  the  fat.  I  have  recently, 
as  before  observed,  found  globules  in  which  the  fat 
was  entirely  displaced  with  water.  As  the  composi- 
tion of  cream  is  variable,  there  is  a  corresponding 
variation  in  the  specific  gravity  of  different  samples. 
It  varies,  acccording  to  different  authorities,  from 
1,024.4  by  Berzelius,  down  to  983  by  Sturtevant.  The 
actual  difference  in  the  gravity  of  different  samples  of 
cream  I  apprehend  is  less  than  is  generally  estimated, 
the  samples  being  varied  by  the  amount  of  milk  taken 
with  the  cream.  Taken  from  grass  fed  milk  in  June, 
the  cream  being  very  carefully  separated  from  the 
milk,  the  pure  cream  had  a  gravity  of  985,  water  being 
1,000;  this  is  the  lowest  determination  1  have  made. 
I  have  never  met  with  a  sample  of  sweet  cream  which 
I  can  recall  as  being  heavier  than  water.  Sour  cream 
will  often  sink  in  water  because  of  the  coagulated 
caseine  which  adheres  to  it,  but  when  sweet  cream  is 
placed  in  distilled  water  the  caseine  sinks  and  the 
cream  rises.  Hence,  I  infer  that  though  the  great 
majority  of  authorities  agree  in  putting  the  specific 
gravity  of  cream  greater  than  that  of  water ;  the 
higher  gravity  is  due  to  an  imperfect  separating  of 
cream  from  the  milk.  That  this  was  so  in  the 
extraordinary  gravity  ascribed  to  it  by  Berzelius,  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  the  cream  so  estimated  pro- 
duced only  4^  per  cent,  of  butter,  while  the  residue 
gave  3^  per  cent,  of  caseine  and  92  percent,  of  whey. 


Butter  Making.  20^ 

Such  a  result  could  not  be  obtained  without  having 
mixed  with  the  cream  a  large  amount  of  milk.  Pure 
cream  ought  to  yield  20  per  cent,  of  butter.  I  have 
obtained  from  it  25  per  cent,  and  it  sometimes  yields 
more. 

It  must  not  be  understood  from  this  remark  that 
cream  is  all  supposed  to  be  alike  in  respect  to  gravity 
or  value,  for  neither  is  true.  The  cream  from  the  milk 
of  different  cows  varies  both  in  gravity  and  value,  and 
even  in  the  milk  of  the  same  they  are  varied  consider- 
ably by  the  effect  of  feed.  A  cow  in  April,  while  in 
the  barn,  and  fed  on  hay  and  wheat  bran,  gave  milk  in 
which  the  cream  differed  so  little  from  the  rest  of  the 
milk,  that  no  distinct  line  between  milk  and  cream 
could  be  observed  after  standing  twenty-four  hours  in 
a  graduated  glass  ten  inches  deep.  The  cream  appeared 
to  diminish  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  glass  by 
a  gradation  nearly  uniform.  About  one-fourth  of  the 
way  from  the  top  down  was  a  confused  change  in  the 
shading,  showing  the  cream  to  be  thicker  above  than 
below,  but  the  diminution  of  opacity  downward  showed 
considerable  cream  below.  A  milk  so  very  rich  as  to 
show  25  per  cent  of  cream,  and  still  cream  to  spare 
below  that,  seemed  a  remarkable  instance  of  richness 
and  to  be  worthy  of  analysis,  but  I  was  much  disap- 
pointed to  find  in  a  total  of  dry  solids  of  13  per  cent, 
less  than  4  per  cent.  fat.  The  milk  of  this  cow  was 
watched  and  the  diminution  of  the  per  cent,  of  cream 
with  a  change  of  feed  noted.  In  June,  when  fully 
established  on  a  diet  of  grass,  the  cream  had  dwindled 
to  12  per  cent.,  and  its  line  of  separation  became  dis- 
tinct. An  analysis  showed  a  slight  falling  off  in 
solids  and  a  trifling  increase  in  fat.  The  changes 
noted  in  the  milk  of  this  cow  are  interesting  as  indi- 


2o6  American  Dairying. 

eating  the  possible  change  upon  the  gravity  of  cream 
by  tlie  influence  of  feed,  and  the  unreliability  of  the 
volume  of  cream  as  an  absolute  guide  to  value,  and 
may  help  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  variable 
specific  gravities  ascribed  to  cream.  The  April  cream 
was  evidently  largely  composed  of  milk,  because  its 
gravity  being  so  near  that  of  the  milk  itself,  it  did  not 
crowd  itself  to  the  surface  to  displace  the  milk  that 
was  mingled  with  it.  In  June,  the  globules  were  better 
filled  and  the  fat  in  them  was  lighter,  and  they  pushed 
themselves  (so  to  speak)  with  more  force  to  the  surface, 
displacing  the  milk  and  forming  a  compact  coat  of 
cream  with  a  deep  color.  The  former  must  have 
weighed  heavily  ;  the  latter  light. 

Cream  from  the  milk  of  different  cows  and  from 
different  breeds  of  cows  is  liable  to  similar  variations. 
The  bulk  of  cream,  however,  affords  a  strong  probable 
evidence  of  the  butter  product  in  the  milk,  but  not  an 
absolute  one.  The  opacity  of  the  cream  is  often  as 
good  an  index  of  value  as  bulk. 

RAISING  CREAM. 

From  time  immemorial,  cream  has  been  separated 
from  the  other  parts  of  milk  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing butter,  yet  the  best  method  of  effecting  the  separ- 
ation is  far  from  being  settled. 

Opposite  practices,  in  many  particulars,  are  advo- 
cated and  adopted.  A  beginner  in  butter  making  is 
always  confused  with  the  contradictory  notions  of  old 
practitioners ;  and  these  differences  of  opinion  and 
practice  are  likely  to  continue  till  the  operators 
assemble  and  compare  practices  and  products,  and 
settle  dififerenc'es  by  discussion. 


Butter  Making.  20j 

In  the  present  unsettled  state  of  opinion  and  modes 
of  operating,  an  appeal  to  general  principles  becomes 
necessary.  The  statement  of  a  few  leading  facts  will 
help  us  very  much  in  deciding  what  is,  and  what  is 
not,  proper. 

The  first  prominent  fact  in  the  separation  of  cream 
from  milk  is,  ;hat  it  rises  by  reason  of  its  having  a  less 
specific  gravity  than  the  milk  with  which  it  is  mingled. 

The  average  specific  gravity  of  milk  is  about  1,030. 
The  difference  between  this  and  985  brings  the  cream 
to  the  surface;  it  is  so  little  that  the  cream  makes 
haste  very  slowly.  The  globules  never  all  come  to  the 
surface.  Other  circumstances  being  the  same,  the 
largest  ones  rise  soonest,  as  they  are  specifically 
lighter  and  in  rising  meet  with  Jess  resistance  in  pro- 
portion to  bulk  than  the  smaller  ones.  Many  of  these 
never  make  a  start  toward  the  surface  at  all.  Neither 
do  the  larger  ones  always  rise,  some  of  them  settle 
instead  of  rising.  In  placing  in  a  glass  tube  sixteen 
inches  long,  milk  on  which  the  cream  appeared  to  rise 
perfectly,  leaving  a  blue  skim-milk,  and  letting  it  stand 
twenty-four  hours,  and  then  drawing  milk  from  the 
bottom  of  the  tube,  globules  of  good  size  (Wr?r  of  an 
inch  in  diameter)  appeared  mingled  with  the  smaller 
ones.  As  globules  of  unequal  size  remained  at  the 
bottom,  it  is  evident  they  did  so  because  of  a  difference 
in  their  composition  which  made  them  specifically 
heavier.  Those  remaining  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep 
vessel  appear  less  opaque  than  those  which  rise  to  the 
surface,  those  rising  first,  being  the  most  opaque. 
Analyses  of  skim-milk  show  that  about  one-eighth  of 
the  fatty   matter  in   milk  never  gets  to  the  surface. 

The  smaller  the  globules,  the  slower  they  rise;  and 
some  of  them  dwindle  down  to  such  minuteness  that 


2o8  American  Dairying. 

they  would  not  rise  through  three  inches  in  a  week, 
if  the  milk  could  be  kept  sweet  that  length  of  time- 
Cream  will  continue  to  rise  till  the  milk  gets  thick,  be 
that  time  short  or  long.  The  best  part  rises  first.  If 
milk  is  skimmed  every  twelve  hours,  and  the  cream  of 
each  period  churned  separately,  the  product  of  the 
first  period  will  be  the  highest  flavored  and  the  highest 
colored,  and  the  color,  quantity  and  flavor  of  each 
successive  skimming  will  diminish  to  the  last,  but  the 
keeping  qualities  will  grow  better.  The  fourth  and 
fifth  skimmings  will  be  quite  pale  and  insipid.  Where 
a  high  flavored  article 'is  desired,  it  is  not  advisable  to 
continue  the  process  of  creaming  too  long.  What  will 
rise  in  forty-eight  hours,  at  sixty  degrees,  on  milk 
four  inches  deep,  is  9.II  that  it  is  generally  profitable 
to  separate.  What  comes  up  after  that  is  so  white  and 
tasteless  as  to  do  more  injury,  by  depressing  the  flavor 
and  color,  than  it  can  do  good  by  increasing  quantity. 

The  second  essential  point  is  the  fact  that  fats 
expand  and  contract  more  with  heat  and  cold  than 
water,  and  more  than  the  other  elements  of  milk. 
The  difference  in  specific  gravity  between  milk  and 
cream  is  varied  by  the  circumstance  of  temperature. 
It  is  greatest  when  hot,  and  least  when  cold,  and  this 
fact  materially  affects  the  rising  of  the  cream. 

As  fat,  of  which  cream  is  chiefly  composed,  swells 
more  with  heat  and  shrinks  more  with  cold  than  water, 
of  which  milk  is  chiefly  composed,  it  is  evident  that, 
if  other  circumstances  are  alike,  cream  will  rise  better 
in  a  high  temperature  than  in  a  low  one,  since  the  fat 
in  cream,  by  swelling  more  with  heat,  will  be  rela- 
tively lighter  when  both  milk  and  cream  are  warm 
than  when  both  are  cold — the  temperature  in  both 
cases  neither  rising  nor  falling,  but  standing  without 


Butter  Makijig.  2og 

change.  Most  people  seem  to  have  the  opinion  that 
milk  must  be  cooled  to  make  the  cream  rise  fast,  and 
that  the  colder  they  can  get  it,  the  faster  the  cream 
will  rise.  The  fact  is  exactly  the  reverse  when  the 
temperature  is  stationary.  The  colder  the  milk,  the 
slower  the  cream  rises,  because  there  is  less  difference 
between  the  specific  gravity  of  the  cream  and  milk, 
and  because  the  milk  is  more  dense  and  offers  more 
obstruction  to  the  motion  of  the  cream  globules.  It 
does  not  rise  as  fast  at  60  as  at  160  degrees.  In  butter 
making  the  waste  of  butyraceous  matter  is  confined 
almost  wholly  to  the  minutest  particles  of  cream. 
These  rise  with  great  difficulty  and  very  slowly. 
Those  who  make  butter  from  whey  often  heat  the 
whey  to  170  degrees,  when  the  difference  in  specific 
gravity  between  the  fat  in  the  cream  and  the  water  in 
the  whey  becomes  so  great,  that  the  cream  all  rises  to 
the  top  in  a  short  time.  By  cooling  to  60  degrees,  five 
or  six  times  as  much  time  is  required  to  effect  the  same 
result. 

In  noting  the  difference  of  expansion  in  water  and 
fat,  by  varying  the  temperature,  the  fat  in  rising  from 
60  to  130  degrees,  swelled,  as  near  as  I  could  determine 
by  graduated  tubes,  twice  as  much  as  water  by  the  same 
increase  of  temperature.  Water  expands  unequally 
by  an  equal  increase  of  heat  according  as  the  increase 
is  made  at  a  high  temperature  or  a  low  one.  Water 
rising  from  40  to  50  degrees  swells  only  one-tenth  as 
much  as  when  rising  from  80  to  90  degrees,  and  in 
cooling,  of  course  the  same  law  is  followed  in  the 
shrinkage.  In  falling  from  a  high  temperature  to  a 
low  one,  the  water  in  the  milk  shrinking  little  and  the 
fat  much,  the  specific  gravities  come  nearer  alike,  and 
hence  the  fat  rises  more  slowly  at  low  temperatures 


210  American  Dairying. 

than  at  high  ones,  when  the  temperature  is  unvarying. 
Water  is  a  better  conductor  of  heat  than  fat ;  hence, 
when  the  temperature  of  milk  varies  either  up  or 
down,  the  water  in  the  milk  feels  the  effect  of  heat  or 
cold  a  little  sooner  than  the  fat  in  the  cream  does; 
therefore,  the  cream  is  always  a  little  behind  the  water 
in  swelling  with  heat  or  shrinking  with  cold — thus 
diminishing  the  difference  between  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  milk  and  cream  when  the  temperature  is  rising, 
and  increasing  it  when  the  temperature  is  falling. 
The  difference  between  the  specific  gravities  of  milk 
and  cream,  when  both  have  the  same  temperature,  is 
but  little.  It  is  barely  enough  to  give  a  sluggish 
motion  to  the  cream.  Where  the  difference  in  gravities 
is  so  very  small,  a  slight  increase  or  decrease  is  sensi- 
tively felt,  and  the  careful  observer  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  noting  the  retarded  ascent  of  cream  in  a 
rising  temperature,  or  its  hurried  ascent  in  a  falling 
one.  The  fact  of  a  hurried  rising  of  cream  in  a  fall- 
ing temperature  of  milk  has  great  significance  in  but- 
ter dairying;  but,  though  always  open  for  recognition 
in  every  butter  making  establishment,  whether  cor- 
porate or  private,  it  has  failed  of  being  recognized 
both  by  dairymen  and  dairy  writers — perhaps  because 
they  have  had  their  minds  intently  bent  on  some  ideal 
temperature  or  depth,  as  the  sine  qua  no?i. 

A  fourth  consideration  is  depth ;  other  circum- 
stances being  equal  it  must  be  evident  that  it  will  take 
cream  less  time  to  rise  through  a  thin  structure  of 
milk  than  a  thick  one — less  time  to  rise  through  three 
inches  than  twelve.  But  depth  involves  temperature 
and  makes  the  question  of  depth  a  complicated  one. 
It  cennot  be  consistantly  considered  alone,  for  there  is 
no  particular  depth  at  which,  under  all  circumstances, 


Butter  Making.  211 

^:ream  rises  better  than  at  every  other  temperature; 
and  of  temperature  it  may  be  also  said,  that  there  is  no 
particular  temperature  at  which  under  all  circum- 
stances cream  rises  better  than  at  every  other  tem- 
perature. Depth  and  temperature  are  somewhat  cor- 
relative;  in  practice  they  affect  each  other,  and  they 
should  be  considered  in  connection.  Further  experi- 
ments are  necessary  to  note  all  the  facts  which  result 
from  the  combined  influence  of  these  two  circum- 
stances, but  a  little  explanation  may  help  to  show  how 
these  general  statements  are  connected  with  deep  and 
shallow  setting.  If  two  vessels  of  milk  at  80°  and  of 
the  same  depth  and  quality,  are  set  in  a  room  which 
has  an  even  temperature  of  50° — one  being  cooled  to 
50°  before  setting  and  the  other  not— the  vessel  which 
is  cooled  will  not  throw  up  cream  so  rapidly  nor  so 
perfectly  as  the  one  which  is  not  cooled  before  setting, 
because  the  former  will  receive  no  benefit  from  an 
increased  difference  between  the  specific  gravities  of 
the  milk  and  cream  by  reason  of  a  falling  temperature. 
If,  after  the  cooled  milk  has  stood  at  50°  until  the 
cream  ceases  to  rise,  it  is  warmed  and  then  set  again 
in  a  room  at  50°,  or  if,  without  warming,  it  is  set  in  a 
colder  room,  more  cream  will  rise  because  of  the  fall- 
ing temperature  that  will  in  either  case  follow.  The 
same  results  would  be  obtained,  but  in  a  feebler  degree, 
if  the  milk  which  was  not  cooled  before  setting  were 
treated  in  the  same  way,  provided  it  was  set  shallow, 
say  two  inches  deep,  in  the  first  place.  Milk  set  shal- 
low in  a  cold  room  will  not  throw  up  its  cream  so 
perfectly  as  when  set  in  a  warm  room,  because  when 
shallow  it  drops  to  the  temperature  of  the  room  before 
the  cream  is  all  up,  and  having  ceased  to  derive  any 
benefit  from    a  decreasing   temperature,    it   will   not 


212  American  Dairying, 

now  throw  up  its  cream  with  sufficient  force  to  bring 
the  heavier  particles  to  the  surface.  Bearing  in  mind 
that  the  warmer  milk  is  kept,  up  to  a  certain  point,  the 
sooner  it  spoils,  65'  is  a  high  temperature  to  set  milk 
in  ;  yet,  milk  set  two  inches  deep  at  65°  will  throw 
up  its  cream  quickly  and  perfectly  when  it  would  not 
do  so  if  set  at  50%  because  the  milk  will  very  soon 
fall  to  the  standard  of  the  room  and  cease  to  derive 
any  advantage  from  a  falling  temperature.  As  cream 
rises  more  rapidly  in  a  high  temperature  than  in  a  low 
one,  it  will,  at  two  inches  depth,  in  a  temperature  of 
65°,  come  up  fast  enough  to  rise  perfectly  before  sour- 
ing begins.  If  we  should  set  warm  milk  in  vessels 
six  inches >  deep,  in  a  room  at  65°,  it  would  take  the 
cream  so  much  longer  to  come  up  through  that 
increased  depth,  and  it  would  remain  warm  so  much 
longer  that  the  milk  would  spoil  before  it  had  all 
risen.  But  let  the  deep  vessel  be  placed  in  a  cold 
room,  say  50°,  and  the  result  will  be  altogether  dif- 
ferent. Unlike  the  shallow  milk  in  the  cool  room, 
the  increase  of  depth  and  bulk  will  so  much  prolong 
the  time  of  cooling  that  the  cream  will  all,  or  very 
nearly  all,  rise  before  the  milk  has  dropped  to  the  tem- 
perature of  the  room.  We  can  now  see  how  the  argu- 
ments of  the  advocates  of  deep  and  shallow  setting 
are  derived.  An  experimenter  having  observed  a  fact 
like  the  last,  in  which  the  cream  is  perfectly  raised  in 
a  deep  vessel,  declares  in  favor  of  deep  setting  as  the 
best  and  only  sure  way  to  get  all  the  cream  ;  and 
another  one,  having  set  milk  two  inches  deep  at  65°,  and 
accomplished  the  same  result,  takes  position  on  the 
other  side  and  becomes  an  advocate  of  shallow  setting 
under  all  circumstances.  Each  having  weighed  but 
half  the  facts,  his  arguments  cover  but  half  the  ground. 


Butter  Making.  213 

Had  both  investigated  more  thoroughly,  they  might 
have  been  agreed  in  the  position  that  all  the  cream  can 
be  obtained  by  either  deep  or  shallow  setting,  if  there 
is  a  proper  adaptation  of  conditions ;  and  they  might 
go  farther,  and  lay  it  down  as  a  rule,  that  the  warmer 
the  room  in  which  milk  is  set,  the  less  should  be  its 
depth,  and  the  cooler  it  is,  the  greater  may  be  the 
depth.  By  having  the  foregoing  general  statements 
well  grounded  in  the  mind,  and  keeping  in  distinct 
remembrance  the  relation  between  temperature  and 
depth,  especially  the  important  effect  of  a  falling 
temperature,  any  one  can,  with  a  little  experience,  be 
successful  in  raising  cream  perfectly  at  any  tempera- 
ture from  40°  to  70°.  '  It  will  become  clear  that,  though 
certain  temperatures  are  desirable,  they  are  not  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  obtaining  all  the  cream.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  talk  about  an  even  temperature  for 
raising  cream,  and  so  far  as  the  dairy  room  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  desirable  that  it  should  be  uniform, 
because  it  gives  regularity  to  all  the  operations  of  the 
dairy  and  aids  in  securing  uniform  results,  but  so  far 
as  the  single  fact  of  raising  the  cream  is  concerned,  it 
is  better  that  the  milk  should  not  be  kept  at  any  one 
particular  degree,  but  at  a  temperature  steadily  falling 
as  long  as  possible.  It  is  an  important  item  in  heating 
milk  before  setting  it,  that  it  gives  a  wider  range  of 
temperature  for  it  to  fall  through.  Low  cooling  con- 
tributes to  the  same  result,  at  the  other  end  of  the 
scale ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  observe  that,  in  using  low 
temperatures,  the  depth  and  bulk  of  milk  should  be 
graduated  to  the  warmth,  so  that  the  rising  of  the 
cream  shall  not  be  arrested  by  too  soon  bringing 
the  temperature  of  the  milk  to  a  stand  still.  If  the 
cooling  is  sufficiently  rapid  to  prevent  the  milk  from 


21^  American  Dairying. 

souring  before  the  cream  is  all  up,  the  slower  the  cool- 
ing the  better,  as  the  benefit  of  a  falling  temperature 
will  be  more  fully  availed  of.  This  is  one  reason  why 
cooling  milk  in  cold  air  is  better  than  cooling  in  cold 
water;  the  water  being  a  better  conductor  than  the 
air,  brings  the  temperature  to  a  stand  still  too  soon. 
But,  at  the  beginning,  the  rapid  cooling  will  throw  up 
cream  faster  than  slow  cooling,  but  the  slow  cooling 
produces  the  best  results  in  the  end. 

The  greater  the  number  of  degrees  of  temperature 
through  which  milk  falls  while  the  cream  is  rising,  the 
more  perfectly  does  it  come  up,  other  circumstances 
being  equal.  Milk  cooled  from  80°  to  60°  in  twelve 
hours  will  not  throAV  up  its  cream  so  rapidly  nor  so 
perfectly  as  when  falling  from  80°  down  to  40°  in  the 
same  time.  Facts  like  this  have  often  been  noticed 
and  a  wrong  inference  drawn  from  them.  It  is  sup- 
posed because  cooling  to  40°,  instead  of  60%  makes  the 
most  butter,  that  cream  rises  better  the  lower  the  tem- 
perature. But  this  inference  is  unwarranted  and 
untrue,  for  if  a  mess  of  milk  is  divided  and  one-half 
cooled  to  60°  and  the  other  to  40°  before  the  cream  is 
allowed  to  rise,  and  kept  at  those  temperatures  respect- 
ively, the  cream  will  rise  more  rapidly  and  perfectly 
on  the  half  cooled  only  to  do  degrees.  This  fact  may 
be  easily  verified  by  experiment,  and  the  general 
principle  confirmed  that  cream  rises  better  at  high 
temperatures  than  at  low  ones  when  the  temperature  is 
unvarying.  The  other  experiment  will  prove  a  very 
satisfactory  demonstration  of  the  fact  in  regard  to  the 
influence  of  raising  cream  while  the  temperature  is 
depressing.  Particular  attention  is  called  to  these 
general  facts,  because  some  experimenters  who  are 
regarded  as  authorities,  have  fallen  into  the  error  just 


Butter  Making.  21^ 

alluded  to.  In  effecting  a  separation  between  milk 
and  cream,  the  influence  of  a  falling  temperature  is  so 
efficient  and  has  been  so  long  and  so  entirely  over- 
looked, that  it  deserves  a  more  extended  notice  tlian 
can  here  be  given,  but  what  has  been  said  may  be  sufli- 
cient  to  direct  attention  to  it.  The  practices  in  Sweden 
and  the  experiments  of  Tisserand  and  others,  in  cool- 
ing to  low  temperatures,  which  are  just  now  going  the 
rounds  of  the  agricultural  press  in  this  country  as 
evidence  that  cold  favors  the  rising  of  cream,  are 
obviously  the  result  of  a  falling  temperature  rather 
than  a  low  one,  per  se. 

Another  important  fact  that  affects  the  separation 
of  cream,  is  the  growth  of  minute  organic  germs  in 
tlie  milk,  which,  up  to  a  certain  point,  is  greater  the 
higher  the  temperature. 

There  are  thousands  of  germs  in  all  milk  exposed 
to  the  air,  that  are  ready  to  start  up  and  grow  when- 
ever the  milk  is  warm  enough  for  them  to  do  so,  and 
by  their  presence,  hinder  the  upward  passage  of  the 
cream  globules.  The  sour  milk  cells,  are  the  prin- 
cipal obstructions  in  the  way  of  the  rising  of  cream  ; 
they  begin  to  form  long  before  the  milk  begins  to 
appear  thick.  The  growth  of  other  germs  do  injury 
by  altering  the  flavor. 

Organic  germs  are  prevented  from  interfering  with 
the  rising  of  cream,  either  by  retarding  their  growth 
by  cooling  the  milk,  or  killing  them  by  heating. 

SKIMMING. 

The  time  at  which  skimming  should  be  done  and 
the  best  mode  of  doing  it,  are  also  subject  to  modifica- 
tion by  circumstances.      The   most  general   rule  is  to 


2i6  American  Dairyiiig. 

P  skim  when   the  milk  first  begins  to  be  sensibly  sour. 

/  When  milk  is  to  be  used  only  for  butter  making  and 
is  set  in  broad  vessels  with  little  depth,  the  rule  of 
fitness  for  skimming  is  a  certain  consistency  of  the 
cream.  When  the  cream  becomes  so  thick  that  it  will 
not  flow  back  behind  the  finger  as  it  is  passed  through 
it,  it  is  time  to  skim.  If  the  vessels  are  very  deep  and 
the  temperature  very  low,  this  rule  will  not  be  appli- 
cable, for  the  cream  will  remain  soft  and  flowing  for  a 
long  time  after  it  is  all  up.  Milk  which  is  cooled 
down  much  below  50°  while  the  cream  is  rising, 
remains  sweet  almost  indefinitely.  On  such  milk  the 
cream  continues  to  rise  as  long  as  it  is  sweet,  but  after 
sixty  or  seventy  hours  the  quantity  is  almost  inper- 
ceptible,  and  the  quality  so  poor  as  to  detract  from  the 
value  of  the  butter  more  than  will  be  added  by 
increased  quantity.  The  judgment  of  the  operator 
must  be  the  final  appeal  in  all  such  cases.  The  sooner 
it  is  taken  off  after  it  is  all  up  the  better.  There  is  no 
advantage  in  keeping  cream  standing  exposed  to  the 
air  longer  than  is  necessary  for  it  to  rise. 

In  my  early  dairy  experience  a  skimmer  was  the 
only  implement  made  use  of  for  removing  cream  from 
milk,  but  with  me  it  has  long  since  been  laid  by  as 
neither  convenient  nor  appropriate  for  the  purpose. 
The  impression  once  generally  prevailed,  and  does  to 
some  extent  still,  that  the  cream  should  be  separated 
as  completely  as  possible  from  the  milk  before  churn- 
ing. But  this  is  not  best— the  butter  is  better  and 
more  of  it  is  obtained  by  churning  a  portion  of  the 
milk  with  the  cream.  The  cream  and  the  milk  taken 
with  it,  should  constitute  one-quarter  of  the  milk.  To 
churn  less  than  this  tends  to  injure  the  grain  of  the 
butter,  by  having  too  much  butter  in  proportion  to  the 


Butter  Making,  21^ 

liquid  in  the  churn.  The  butter  suffers  by  friction 
with  a  small  amount  of  liquid  in  churning,  which  is 
obviated  with  more  liquid.  On  this  account  some  of 
the  best  modern  butter  makers  churn  the  whole  milk  ; 
but  I  do  not  regard  this  as  necessary.  Since  it  is 
desirable  to  have  some  milk  go  with  the  cream,  a  skim- 
mer is  not  the  best  instrument  to  remove  it  with.  In 
its  place  I  use  a  broad  and  sliallow  tin  scoop  resem- 
bling a  dust  pan  or  a  curd  scoop,  which  I  pass  under 
the  cream  so  as  to  take  in  the  top  of  the  milk  with  it. 
The  top  of  the  milk  often  contains  considerable  butter 
which  this  mode  of  skimming  saves,  but  which  is  lost 
in  using  a  skimmer,  and  not  unfrequently  some  of  the 
thinner  cream  also.  In  deep  setting  cream  should 
always  be  dipped  off. 

PREPARING  CREAM  FOR  CHURNING. 

From  the  time  it  begins  to  rise,  cream  is  all  the  time 
changing  till  it  is  at  last  consumed  by  the  products  of 
the  fermentation  which  goes  on  in  the  milk,  if  left  stand- 
ing long  enough.  Ripeness  is  the  term  used  to  indi- 
cate the  degree  of  advancement  in  tliis  changing.  The 
principal  circumstance  which  affects  the  ripening  of 
cream  is  temperature ;  the  cooler  it  is  the  slower  it 
ripens  and  viee  versa.  To  produce  the  best  result  for 
general  use  and  the  largest  yield,  the  cream  to  be 
operated  on  should  have  a  certain  degree  of  ripeness 
which  is  indicated  by  a  moderate  sourness,  and  it 
should  all  be  equally  advanced.  If  some  of  it  is  sweet 
and  some  of  it  sour,  or  parts  of  it  are  of  unequal 
sourness,  the  unlike  parts  will  not  churn  in  the  same 
time  and  a  part  of  the  butter  will  be  left  back  in  the 
buttermilk.      If   a    churning    is    to    be   composed    of 


s 


21 8  American  Dairying, 

cream  skimmed  at  different  times,  the  different  messes 
should  be  well  mixed  and  stand  together  twelve  hours 
at  sixty  degrees.  If  it  is  colder,  it  should  stand  longer, 
as  the  changes  are  slower  and  it  will  take  a  longer 
time  for  it  all  to  assume  the  same  condition.  If  it  is 
warmer  than  sixty  degrees,  less  than  twelve  hours  will 
make  it  all  alike.  Unless  there  is  some  special  reason 
for  churning  immediately,  it  is  better  to  let  cream 
stand  twelve  hours  before  churning  than  to  churn  as 
soon  as  it  is  skimmed,  for  it  is  generally  not  all  ripe 
alike  when  skimmed,  thougli  all  taken  off  of  one  ves- 
sel. The  upper  part  which  is  exposed  to  the  air  and 
light,  generally  ripens  faster  than  the  underside,  if  the 
air  has  humidity  enough  to  keep  the  top  soft,  and  it 
will  require  time  after  skimming  and  mixing  to  make 
it  all  assume  the  same  condition.  If  the  air  is  so  dry 
as  to  dry  the  top  of  the  cream,  it  will  require  time  for 
it  to  soak  up  soft  again.  When  the  circumstances  are 
such  that  neither  of  these  conditions  occur,  there  is  no 
objection  to  churning  as  soon  as  skimmed,  if  enough 
for  a  churning  is  skimmed  at  a  time.  It  is  not  well 
to  keep  cream  very  long  after  removing  it  from  the 
milk.  Butter  makers  often  lose  by  keeping  it  too 
long.  Cream  changes  faster  than  milk.  It  both  sours 
and  decays  sooner  than  milk  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. This  makes  it  necessary  to  keep  the  cream 
jar  cooler  than  the  milk,  if  it  must  be  kept,  but  it  is 
better  and  safer  to  churn  often.  If  there  is  not  enough 
for  a  churning  of  the  cream  alone,  it  is  better  to  add 
milk  and  let  the  churning  go  on,  rather  than  keep  the 
cream  beyond  the  proper  time. 

If  the  temperature  of  the  cream   is  to  be  changed 

before  churning  it  should  be  done  gradually.    The  best 

!  way  to  do  it  is  to  place  it  in  a  tin  vessel  and  surround 


Butter  Making.  2ig 

it  with  water,  either  cold   or  warm,  according  as  the 
temperature  is  to  be  lowered  or  raised.  \ 

FLECKS  IN  CREAM. 

White  specks  in  butter  come  from  different  causes. 
There  are  at  least  two  causes  which  seem  to  produce 
this  result :  one  is  dried  cream,  but  it  is  very  seldom 
that  dried  cream  produces  the  specks,  for,  if  cream 
is  dry  when  churned,  unless  the  butter  comes  very 
quickly,  churning  long  enough  to  bring  the  butter 
will  dash  the  dried  lumps  to  pieces.  They  will 
become  soft  and  mingle  with  the  buttermilk,  and  of 
course,  no  longer  remain  in  lumps.  But  sometimes 
that  may  not  occur  ;  they  may  not  be  so  broken  up  but 
that  particles  of  cream  stuck  together  will  appear. 
The  usual  cause  of  flecks  in  butter  is  the  coagulation 
of  drops  of  milk  by  the  action  of  germs  in  them.  In 
the  fall,  when  the  cows  are  being  dried  off,  and  the 
milk^  remains  some  time  in  the  cow's  bag,  specks  are 
very  likely  to  appear.  If  a  glass  vessel  that  can  be 
looked  through  is  used,  flecks  may  often  be  seen 
developing  in  the  bottom.  The  growing  germs  will 
curdle  a  little  milk  and  by  the  fermentation  which 
centers  around  that  spot,  gas  will  be  formed  in  the 
fleck  and  it  will  become  lighter  than  the  milk  and 
work  its  way  up  to  the  top,  where  it  will  be  found 
in  the  cream.  At  another  time,  it  will  develop  in  the 
cream.  The  germ  will  coagulate  a  little  bit  of  milk 
and  remain  there;  and  when  churned,  the  lump  of 
curd  will  not  be  broken  to  pieces.  If  such  milk  is 
scalded  the  white  specks  will  not  appear. 

These    specks    are    sometimes    developed    by   the 
action    of    air   and    light.       I    have    taken   two    pans 


220  American  Dairying. 

of  milk  from  the  same  mess  and  set  them  side  by 
side;  one  pan  would  have  the  specks  in  it,  and  the 
other  would  not.  I  was  at  first  a  little  puzzled  to 
account  for  this  ;  but  after  a  while,  I  found  that  the 
light,  which  shone  into  a  window,  struck  one  pan 
and  developed  the  germs,  thus  making  the  specks. 
The  development  was  not  so  rapid  in  the  other  pan, 
because  it  was  in  the  shade,  so  the  specks  did  not 
appear.  I  have  had  them  appear  in  one  cow's  milk 
and  not  in  another's,  when  the  milk  of  both  cows  was 
placed  just  alike,  and  subjected  to  the  same  influences, 
in  every  particular.  Specks  of  dried  cream  may  not 
injure  the  quality  of  the  butter  materially,  but  when  the 
conditions  of  milk  or  cream  are  such  as  to  develop 
flecks  by  coagulating  specks  of  milk,  I  do  not  think  as 
good  butter  can  be  made.  The  specks  in  butter  may  be 
dried  cream,  but  they  are  oftener  floating  curd,  made 
by  the  development  of  germs  in  the  milk.  A  current 
of  air  will  in  a  very  short  time  produce  flecks;  it  will 
ripen  the  germs  that  lie  on  the  top  of  the  cream,  so 
that  little  specks  will  very  soon  form  and  be  seen 
floating  on  the  surface.  It  will  bring  other  germs 
into  the  same  condition,  just  as  one  apple  rotting  in  a 
barrel  will  make  half  a  dozen  others  rot  around  it. 
Those  which  form  down  in  the  milk  are  composed 
almost  entirely  of  curd,  the  atoms  of  which  are  bound 
firmly  together  probably  by  the  mycelium  of  the  fun- 
gus which  has  occasioned  their  formation.  Those 
wliich  form  in  the  cream  are  partly  curd,  but  largely 
cream  which  do  not  break  to  pieces  by  the  action  of  the 
churn.  Some  butter  makers  after  the  cream  is  ready 
for  the  churn,  strain  it  to  pulverize  whatever  there  may 
be  of  flecks  from  dried  cream  or  any  other  cause  in  it. 
The  instrument  used  for  this  purpose  is  a  cone-shaped 


Butter  Making.  221 


"<b 


strainer,  the  pointed  end  of  the  cone  being  made  of 
wire  gauze,  with  a  band  of  tin  at  the  broad  end  as  a 
support.  An  interior  cone  of  wood  is  made  to  rotate 
over  the  gauze  and  crowd  the  cream  through,  pulver- 
izing any  lumps  and  grinding  flecks  or  fat  to  atoms 
if  any  there  be  in  the  cream.  But  this  is  a  labor  of 
doubtful  utility.  If  the  flecks  come  from  dried  cream 
the  difficulty  would  be  sufficiently  removed  by  mixing 
and  stirring  the  cream  and  letting  it  stand  awhile 
before  churning.  It  takes  but  a  very  short  time  for 
dried  cream  to  soak  so  soft  as  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  rest.  If  it  would  not  do  so,  crowding  it 
through  the  meshes  of  a  wire  sieve  would  not  help  the 
matter  much.  In  case  there  are  flecks  it  would  be 
much  better  to  leave  them  whole,  as  they  would  be 
much  less  likely  to  get  mingled  with  the  butter  than 
in  their  pulverized  state.  They  never  churn  in  either 
case  and  their  presence  in  the  butter  detracts  from  its 
good  quality  and  keeping.  Flecks  usually  come  from 
a  faulty  condition  of  the  milk,  and  the  butter  made 
from  such  milk  should  not  be  mixed  with  other  butter, 
as  it  will  not  keep  like  butter  from  sound  milk.  They 
may  be  prevented  by  scalding  the  milk  in  which  they 
occur  to  130°,  to  kill  the  germs  which  occasion  them. 
When  the  milk  is  very  much  affected  a  higher  heat 
will  be  necessary. 

COLORING. 

When  butter  is  very  pale  its  market  value  is 
enhanced  by  coloring  it.  This  should  always  be  done 
in  the  cream  just  before  churning,  and  it  is  best  done 
with  annattoine  or  some  preparation  of  annatto.  No 
coloring  should  be  added  directly  to  the  butter;  it 
w^ould  be  impossible  to  incorporate  any  coloring  ma- 


222  American  Dairying, 

terial  evenly  with  the  butter  after  it  has  been  churned, 
without  injury  to  the  grain  of  the  butter,  and  I  know 
of  no  material  which  could  be  used  that  would  not 
injure  the  butter  by  direct  contact.  Some  color  butter 
with  carrot  juice,  and  a  few  do  so  whether  it  is  to  be 
sold  or  used  at  home,  because  they  like  the  modified 
flavor  given  to  the  butter  by  the  addition  of  carrot 
juice.  But  the  great  majority  of  consumers,  especially 
those  with  cultivated  taste,  prefer  the  taste  of  good 
butter  to  that  of  carrots,  and  to  all  such  the  carrots  do 
a  double  injury,  for  they  injure  the  keeping  as  well  as 
the  flavor.  The  vegetable  matter  soon  decays  and 
works  the  destruction  of  the  butter  by  its  own  decom- 
position. 

Butter  makers  can  prepare  their  own  coloring  by 
dissolving  annattoine  in  potash,  using  equal  weights 
of  potash  and  annattoine,  with  water  enough  to  give 
the  strength  desired.  It  is  most  convenient  to  make 
it  concentrated.  Some  add  as  much  sal  soda  as  potash, 
and  think  the  color  is  improved  by  the  addition. 
When  annatto  is  used  it  should  be  dissolved  in  strong 
ley  and  boiled,  then  strained,  and  when  it  has  settled, 
the  pure  liquid  turned  off  from  the  sediment. 

Artificial  coloring  for  butter  should  always  be 
sparingly  used.  The  added  hue  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
quite  equal  to  the  natural  one,  and  if  it  is  a  little  too 
strong  it  disfigures  by  giving  an  unnatural  appearance. 

It  requires  some  skill  to  prepare  the  coloring,  which 
is  only  acquired  b}-  experience.  To  be  sure  of  having 
a  good  article  and  to  avoid  the  muss  which  its  prepara- 
tion generally  makes,  it  is  better  for  all  small  dairies, 
at  least,  to  buy  the  small  amount  they  use,  ready  made. 
The  American  preparation  of  Wells,  Richardson  & 
Co.,    Burlington,   Vt.,    and    that   of    Nicholson,    are 


Butter  Making.  22^ 

among  the  best,  and  one  or  the  other,  or  both,  are  for 
sale  by  all  dealers  in  dairy  supplies. 

CHURNING. 

Before  discussing  the  process  of  churning  and 
working  butter,  a  brief  explanation  of  what  is  under- 
stood by  the  grain  of  butter  seems  appropriate. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  butter  is  made  up  of 
the  fat  globules  in  milk  which  adhere  after  having 
been  divested  of  their  delicate  membraneous  envelopes 
by  churning,  and  that  these  little  atoms  of  fat  are 
themselves  made  up  of  several  varieties  of  fatty  ele- 
ments, such  as  stearine,  palmatine  and  oleine.  These 
fatty  elements  have  in  each  globule  not  only  a  definite 
composition,  but  also  a  definite  organization,  as  much 
so  as  that  assumed  by  the  several  parts  composing  an 

egg- 
When  butter  can  be  churned  and  worked  so  as  to 
leave  the  disrobed  granules  of  fat  whole,  or  nearly  so, 
if  a  piece  of  it  at  60'  or  below  is  broken  in  two,  it  will 
show  a  clear  and  distinct  fracture  like  broken  cast  iron, 
and  when  the  fracture  is  viewed  with  a  magnifier,  it 
will  show  a  granular  structure.  This  unbroken  and 
undisturbed  condition  of  the  granules  of  fat,  is  what 
constitutes  the  grain  of  butter. 

In  this  condition  butter  has  its  best  flavor  and  best 
keeping  quality.  If  the  churning,  working  or  hand- 
ling has  been  such  as  to  mash  and  break  the  granules, 
the  fatty  elements  composing  them  become  mixed  and 
the  oily  parts  spread  and  give  to  the  whole  a  greasy 
appearance,  and  the  fracture,  instead  of  being  distinct 
like  that  of  cast  iron,  will  be  more  like  a  fracture  of 
lard,  green  putty,  or  salve.    The  more  the  atoms  of  fat 


22^  American  Dairymg, 

are  mashed  and  broken,  the  more  the  flavor  is  depressed 
and  the  sooner  the  butter  spoils,  just  as  an  ^^^  might 
be  expected  to  spoil  the  sooner  for  having  its  contents 
disturbed  and  mixed  up.  The  difference  in  the  keep- 
ing of  butter  whether  the  grain  is  broken  or  not  is 
very  great.  When  the  grain  is  all  right  butter  may  be 
kept  under  great  disadvantages  and  almost  anywhere. 
If  the  grain  is  spoiled  it  will  hardly  keep  long  under 
any  circumstances,  and  the  flavor  is  about  as  much 
affected  as  the  keeping. 

In  all  the  processes,  therefore,  of  making  and  hand- 
ling butter,  the  preservation  of  the  grain  should  be 
kept  constantly  in  view,  and  those  methods  adopted 
which  will  do  it  the  least  violence  and  have  the  least 
tendency  to  make  it  appear  greasy.  The  right  tem- 
perature too  must  be  observed,  for  if  too  cold  when 
manipulated,  the  granules  will  grind  against  each 
other  and  injure  by  the  friction,  and  if  too  warm,  the 
grain  is  spoiled  by  the  too  easy  mixingof  the  softened 
fats. 

The  object  of  churning  is  to  divest  the  milk  globules 
of  their  delicate  membraneous  covering  without  break- 
ing or  disturbing  the  granules  of  fat  within  them. 
This  is  best  done  by  a  force  in  which  motion  ^nA pres- 
sure are  combined.  Such  a  power  is  much  better  than 
motion  ^Yidi  friction.  Repeated  impulses  of  motion  and 
pressure  act  upon  the  entire  mass  at  once  and  alike. 
Motion  and  friction  act  only  upon  such  particles  as 
the  instrument  used  comes  in  contact  with.  Friction 
ivears  off"  the  pellicles  and  does  its  work  unevenly. 
The  larger  globules  meet  with  the  most  friction  and 
hence  their  pellicles  are  worn  off"  first.  These  gather 
into  lumps  before  the  smaller  ones  become  churned. 
If  the  churning  continues  till  the  smaller  ones  "come/ 


Butter  Making. 


225 


the  larger  ones  become  over  churned  and  greasy  by 
the  excessive  friction.  Pressure  operates  upon  hirge 
and  small  nearly  alike,  and  the 
globules  of  different  sizes  come 
nearer  together  and  mor6  per- 
fectly, producing  more  and  better 
butter. 

The  devices  for  churning  are 
very  numerous.  The  one  most 
extensively  in  use  in  this  country 
is  the  old  dash  churn.  It  is  also 
the  hardest  to  operate  ;  but  when 
properly  constructed  it  does  its 
work  in  the  best  manner.  To  do 
the  best  work  they  should  be  bar- 
rel shaped,  having  a  moderate 
swell  in  the  middle,  and  the  dasher 
should  be  large  enough  to  occupy 
three-quarters  of  the  area  of  a 
horizontal  section  of  the  middle 
of  the  churn.  The  dasher  should  ^^ 
either  be  a  complete  circle  or  have  P^g-35^ 

the  form  of  figure  t^(),  the  floats  or  wings  being  broad 
and  whole  instead  of  being  narrow,  notched  and  full 
of  holes,  as  in  figure  37.  The  large  dasher  as  here 
figured,  will  require  about  once  and  a  half  as  much 
power  to  operate  it  as  the  smaller  and  narrower  one 
with  its  notches  and  holes,  but  it  will  give  more  and 
better  butter  and  do  its  work  in  one-half  the  time,  or 
in  the  same  time  at  a  few  degrees  lower  temperature. 
The  smaller  the  dasher  the  easier  it  works  and  the 
longer  time  it  takes  to  bring  the  butter,  and  the  poorer 
the  butter.  The  more  notches  and  corners  and  holes  it 
contains,  the   more  friction  will  it  occasion,  the  more 


226 


A  m  L  rica  n  Da  try  in^ 


will  the  grain  of  the  butter  be  injured,  and  the  greater 
the  tendency  to  become  greasy.  The  most  objection- 
able form  of  dasher  I  have  met  with  on  account  of 
making  the  butter  greasy,  is  the  system  of  checks  in 
figure  '^^, 


0 


o 


O  0 

■\ 

l>?S  0  %%{ 

\                     0   0 

\             o  o 

,..,/ 

IT  J  I  H~h 


Fig.  36. 


Pie-  37- 


Fig.  38. 


There  are  other  churns  which  operate  essentially 
upon  the  same  principle  as  the  dash  churn,  and  do 
their  work  easier.  Among  these  I  may  name  Bul- 
lard's  oscillating  churn,  which  has  a  reciprocating 
motion,  works  easily,  and  produces  its  effect  by  caus- 
ing the  cream  to  strike  the  ends 
of  the  rectangular  box  with  a 
thud  as  it  suddenly  changes  the 
direction  of  its  motion,  pro- 
ducing an  effect  upon  the  whole 
mass  of  cream  equivalent  to  the 
stroke  of  a  large  dasher  in  a 
dash  churn.  The  barrel  churn 
revolving  endwise,  produces  a  similar  effect ;  so  also 
the  revolving  rectangular  churns,  whether  suspended 
at  the  middle  of  opposite  sides,  or  at  opposite  corners, 
as  in  Whipple's  rectangular  churn.  These  churns 
require  considerable  diameter,  two  feet  or  more,  to 
make  the  cream  fall  far  enough  to  produce  a  sufficient 
concussion  in  falling  from  side  to  side. 


Butter 


Making. 


227 


Next  to  the  old  dash  churn,  the  Blanchard  churn  is 
the  most  popular,  a  hundred  thousand  of  them  are 
said  to  be  now  in  use.  It  is  cheap  and  durable, 
quickly  cleaned  and  operates  easily,  and  gives  general 
satisfaction  to  its  numerous  patrons.  It  has  recently 
become  very  popular  as  a  factory  churn,  large  sizes 
having  been  made  specially  for  that  purpose. 


Fig.  40. 
BLANCHARD    CHURN. 


The  choice  of  a  churn  is  sometimes  of  considerable 
consequence  and  sometimes  not.  When  butter  is  to 
be  made  from  the  milk  of  Channel  Island  cows,  the 
Holderness  or  the  Devon,  the  butter  comes  so  easily 
that  it  makes  little  difference  about  the  kind  of  churn 
or  whether  the  cream  is  sweet  or  sour.  With  the 
milk  of  the  Natives,  the  Ayrshire,  the  North  Holland 
and  the  Shorthorn  cow,  the  case  is  often  quite  dif- 


228  American  Dairying. 

ferent.  Their  cream  generally  requires  so  much 
churning  that  the  best  apparatus  to  do  it  with  must  be 
selected  or  injury  will  be  done  to  it. 

The  best  temperature  for  churning  is  generally 
sixty  degrees,  but  it  varies  with  circumstances.  Sour 
cream  not  only  churns  easier,  but  will  come  at  a 
lower  temperature  than  sweet,  but  it  should  not  be  too 
sour.  If  it  is  allowed  to  get  very  sour  the  quantity 
of  butter  will  be  diminished  and  the  labor  of.?churning 
increased,  instead  of  diminished,  and  perhaps  the 
cream  injured  so  much  that  the  butter  will  never  come. 
When  whole  milk  is  churned  it  requires  to  be  about 
four  degrees  higher  than  the  cream  of  the  same  milk, 
both  being  in  the  same  condition  as  to  sourness. 
In  the  dash  churn  the  temperature  of  the  cream 
should  vary  with  the  size  of  the  dasher.  Cream,  just 
a  little  sour,  will  churn  well  at  58°  with  a  dasher  equal 
to  ^  of  a  horizontal  section  of  the  churn ;  if  equal 
to  ^,  it  will  churn  well  at  60°  to  61°;  if  only  equal  to 
^,  it  will  require  the  cream  to  be  ()t^  to  64".  Except- 
ing cream  from  the  milk  of  Jersey  cows,  and  milk  of 
similar  quality,  sweet  cream  will  require  to  be  about 
four  or  five  degrees  higher  than  it  would  if  sour,  to 
churn  in  the  same  time. 

All  other  circumstances  being  the  same,  the  amount 
of  churning  necessary  to  bring  the  butter  increases 
with  the  distance  from  the  time  of  calving,  or  to 
churn  in  the  same  time  the  temperature  requires  a 
slight  but  gradual  rise.  This  increased  labor  of 
churning  is  occasioned  by  a  gradual  decrease  in  the 
size  of  the  milk  globules.  For  this  reason  the  milk 
of  farrow  cows  does  not  churn  well  with  new  milk. 
Cream  from  the  milk  of  a  cow  eighteen  months  after 
calving,  requires  about  once  and  a  half  the  time  for 


Butter  Making.  22^ 

churning  as  at  one  month  after  calving.  The  conver- 
sion of  cream  into  butter  is  greatly  facilitated  by 
scalding  the  milk  or  cream  while  it  is  sweet.  The 
scalding  may  be  done  when  the  milk  is  first  drawn,  or 
at  any  time  afterward,  provided  it  is  not  postponed  till 
souring  begins. 

Winter  churning  is  often  very  difficult  and  some- 
times impossible,  without  the  aid  of  scalding,  and  the 
higher  the  scalding,  the  easier  the  cream  churns.  At 
other  seasons  of  the  year,  milk,  which  is  for  some 
reason  faulty,  often  has  the  labor  of  churning  greatly 
abridged  by  scalding  nearly  to  a  boiling  heat. 

At  the  commencement  of  churning  the  operation 
should  be  slow  till  the  cream  is  well  mixed,  after 
which  the  speed  may  be  increased  to  the  uniform  rate 
to  which  the  churn  is  adapted.  But  in  no  case  should 
it  be  very  rapid  or  do  great  violence  to  the  cream ;  a 
moderate  motion  makes  the  best  butter.  This  is 
especially  true  when  the  butter  begins  to  come.  If 
the  churning  has  been  rapid  before,  it  should  slacken 
as  soon  as  the  butter  begins  to  collect  in  visible  lumps, 
as  it  will  be  more  easily  affected  by  the  friction  of  the 
churn  after  the  lumps  torm  than  before. 

It  is  generally  customary  to  collect  the  butter  into  a 
solid  mass  before  leaving  the  churn — to  "  gather  "  it. 
This  is  best  done  by  cooling  the  contents  of  the  churn 
gradually,  as  the  butter  begins  to  come  or  show  signs 
of  coming,  and  operating  the  churn  slowly. 

Butter  gathered  in  the  churn  always  contains  more 
or  less  buttermilk,  which  would  soon  spoil  the  butter 
if  not  removed.  There  are  two  ways  of  removing 
it.  One  is  by  kneading  it  in  water  or  brine,  and  the 
other  by  kneading  it  without  water.  One  is  called 
"washing"  and    the   other  "working."     The  former 


2 JO  American  Dairying. 

removes  it  much  more  readily  than  the  latter.  As 
to  which  is  the  better  way  there  are  conflicting 
opinions.  Some  would  not  have  their  butter  washed 
on  any  account,  because  they  believe  the  flavor  and  the 
keeping  of  the  butter  are  thereby  injured;  while 
others  are  equally  tenacious  in  the  use  of  water,  and 
believe  as  firmly  that  the  flavor  and  keeping  are 
improved  by  washing. 

The  flavor  of  butter  which  has  been  washed  is  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  has  not  been  washed.  The 
difference  between  washed  and  unwashed  butter  is 
analagous  to  the  difference  between  clarified  and 
unclarified  sugar.  The  former  consists  of  pure  sac- 
charine matter,  the  latter  of  sugar  and  some  albumi- 
nous and  flavoring  matters  which  were  contained  in 
the  juice  of  the  cane  mingled  with  it,  which  give  a 
flavor  in  addition  to  that  of  the  sugar.  Brown  sugar 
though  less  sweet,  has  more  flavor  than  clarified  sugar. 
When  unwashed,  there  is  always  a  little  buttermilk 
and  sugar  adhering  to  the  butter  that  give  it  a  pecu- 
liar flavor  in  addition  to  that  of  pure  butter,  which 
many  people  like  when  it  is  new.  Washing  removes 
all  this  foreign  matter  and  leaves  only  the  taste  of  the 
butter  pure  and  simple.  Those  who  prefer  the  taste 
of  the  butter  to  the  foreign  ingredients  mixed  with  it, 
like  the  washed  butter  best. 

The  assertion  is  often  made,  and  many  people 
believe,  that  water  washes  out  the  flavor  of  butter,  but 
it  only  cleanses  the  butter  of  the  buttermilk,  sugar 
and  milk  acid,  which  may  adhere  to  it,  just  as  clari- 
fying sugar  removes  from  it  the  foreign  matters  which 
modify  its  true  flavor.  The  flavor  of  butter  consists 
of  fatty  matters  which  do  not  combine  with  water  at 
all,  and  cannot  therefore  be  washed  away  by  it. 


Butter  Making.  2ji 

The  effect  of  washing  upon  the  keeping  quality  of 
butter  depends  upon  the  purity  of  the  water  with 
which  the  washing  is  done.  If  the  water  contains  no 
foreign  matter  that  will  affect  the  butter,  it  will  keep 
better  for  washing  the  buttermilk  out  than  by  work- 
ing it  out.  But  if  the  water  is  hard  from  the  presence 
of  lime,  or  contains  anything  that  could  injure  the 
butter  by  contact  with  it,  washing  becomes  an  injury 
instead  of  a  benefit  to  its  keeping.  Nothing  but  the 
best  and  purest  water  should  be  used  about  butter. 
Very  hard  water  is  always  objectionable.  It  is  not, 
however,  so  objectionable  as  the  water  from  wells, 
which  contain  a  muddy  sediment  so  full  of  organic 
matter  as  to  become  tainted.  Water  standing  over 
such  mud  takes  in  the  taint,  and  if  used  for  washing 
butter,  is  sure  to  injure  it  for  long  keeping.  There  is 
a  good  deal  of  well  water,  otherwise  good,  which  is 
rendered  entirely  unfit  for  using  about  butter  by 
reason  of  sediment  at  the  bottom  of  the  well. 

This  is  frequently  the  case  in  dry  times  when  wells 
get  low  and  the  influx  small,  and  the  water  in  them  is 
too  slowly  changed.  I  once  saw  a  lot  of  nice  butter 
spoiled  entirely  for  table  use,  in  twenty-four  hours,  by 
being  washed  with  water  from  a  well  which  was  low, 
and  the  sediment  in  its  bottom  had  become  affected. 
It  is  not  a  very  uncommon  occurrence  to  find  water 
in  wells  which  people  do  not  object  to  using  for  culi- 
nary purposes,  so  much  affected  by  sediment  as  to  be 
detrimental  when  applied  to  butter. 

For  washing  butter,  brine  is  better  than  water  alone, 
especially  when  the  weather  is  warm  and  the  butter 
soft.  It  cools  the  butter  and  takes  .up  the  buttermilk 
more  readily  than  fresh  water.  In  many  cases  it  will 
prevent  water   from   injuring   butter   that  would   be 


2J2  American  Dairying. 

objectionable  if  used  without  the  salt.  It  is  perhaps 
needless  to  say  that  the  salt  used  for  this  purpose 
should  be  of  the  purest  kind. 

A  new  practice  in  manipulating  butter  in  the  churn 
is  coming  into  use  among  fancy  butter  makers  in  New 
York  and  New  England,  by  which  a  saving  in  labor 
and  an  improvement  in  the  quality  of  butter  is  effected. 
As  the  plan  originated  with  John  Higgins,  of  Speeds- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  I  will  describe  his  method  of  working: 
Mr.  Higgins  uses  the  dash  churn  with  a  large  dasher 
as  recommended  on  a  previous  page,  and  churns  with 
a  slow  stroke,  about  forty  to  the  minute,  till  the  butter 
begins  to  come,  at  which  time  the  contents  of  the  churn 
are  59°  or  60°.  He  then  turns  in  cold  water,  at  two  or 
three  short  intervals,  till  the  cream  rises  high  enough 
to  prevent  the  dash  from  quite  clearing  it  in  its  upw^ard 
stroke.  The  water  to  make  this  increase  is  made  cold 
enough  to  reduce  the  contents  of  the  churn  to  about 
55°.  The  motion  of  the  dash  is  slackened  to  about 
twenty  strokes  per  minute,  and  so  continued  till  the 
whole  mass  of  butter  forms  in  granules  of  the  size  of 
small  peas  or  finer,  which  it  will  always  do  if  the  tem- 
perature is  sufficiently  low.  The  granules  of  butter 
which  are  thus  formed  are  very  hard  and  compact,  and 
entirely  free  from  buttermilk  in  their  interior.  The 
advantage  of  gathering  in  this  granulated  form  is, 
that  the  butter  is  perfectly  freed  from  buttermilk  by 
rinsing  with  cold  water  without  any  working  what- 
ever, thus  avoiding  entirely  the  injury  usually  done  to 
butter  by  that  process.  To  effect  this,  Mr.  H.'s  practice 
is  to  dip  or  skim  off  the  butter  in  any  convenient  way 
and  put  it  into  a  vessel  of  water  at  54°.  A  little  stir- 
ring relieves  it  of  so  much  of  the  buttermilk  that  a 
second  washing  cleanses  it  entirely.     It  is  then  laid  on 


Butter  Making.  2jj 

the  butter  worker  and  as  soon  as  the  water  has  drained 
off  it  is  ready  to  salt.  Six  pounds  of  salt  to  loo 
pounds  of  butter  are  mixed  with  the  granulated  but- 
ter by  stirring,  and  a  few  strokes  of  the  lever  bring 
the  whole  into  a  solid  mass,  which  is  set  away  in  a 
cool  room  six  hours,  and  then  receives  alight  working 
when  it  is  ready  to  pack.  This  method  of  gathering 
in  a  granulated  form  preserves  the  grain  of  the  butter 
in  the  most  perfect  condition,  and  gives  to  it  the 
highest  flavor  and  the  best  keeping  quality.  It  has 
been  found  that  when  butter  is  thus  gathered  in 
granules  it  may,  as  soon  as  rinsed,  be  at  once  put  into 
vessels  in  its  granulated  form,  without  either  working, 
salting  or  packing,  and  the  vessel  filled  with  strong 
brine  and  closely  covered  or  tightly  headed,  and  that 
it  will  in  this  condition  keep  unchanged  for  long 
periods.  Butter  made  in  July  and  put  up  in  this  w^ay, 
was  opened  in  the  following  January,  and  when  the 
brine  was  rinsed  off  it  was  found  to  be  just  as  fresh 
and  sweet  as  when  it  came  from  the  churn.  Upon 
saltingand  working  it  into  solid  form  for  use  upon  the 
table,  it  had  all  the  freshness  and  aroma  of  butter  just 
made.     This  mode  gives  the  finest  gilt  edged  butter. 

WORKING  BUTTER. 

The  object  of  working  butter  is  to  free  it  from  but- 
termilk, to  mix  salt  through  it  evenly,  and  to  make 
the  mass  as  solid  as  possible. 

The  less  labor  with  which  these  ends  can  be  accom- 
plished, the  better  for  the  butter.  If  well  washed  in 
the  churn  or  in  a  butter  bowl,  very  little  working  will 
free  it  from  the  water  left  in  by  washing;  if  unwashed, 
considerable  working   may  be   saved  by  pressing  the 


2j:f.  American  Dairying, 

butter  with  a  damp  linen  or  cotton   cloth,  alternating 
with  the  tise  of  the  ladle  or  lever. 

There  are  a  great  many  devices  in  use  for  working 
butter— quite  too  many  to  be*  separately  described. 
Some  of  them  are  very  excellent  and  convenient  while 
others  are  only  supposed  improvements.  For  small 
dairies  the  common  wooden  bowl  and  ladle  are  in 
general  use,  and  all  things  considered,  are  perhaps  the 
best.  For  larger  dairies,  factory  and  creamery  use, 
the  slab  and  lever  make  a  cheap  and  excellent  w^orker, 
and  one  that  is  durable  and  easy  to  clean.  The  slab 
and  lever  do  the  work  as  perfectly  as  any  of  the  more 
complicated  workers  I  have  examined,  and  cost  the 
least  and  last  the  longest,  and  hence  are  in  extensive 
use  where  large  quantities  of  butter  are  manufactured. 
They  are  made  of  two  inch  w^hite  oak,  maple  or  birch 
plank,  three  to  six  feet  long  and  two  to  four  feet  wide 
at  one  end,  and  half  as  wide  at  the  other.  A  thicker 
plank  is  often  used.  It  stands  on  three  legs  and 
inclines  toward  the  narrow  end  so  as  to  drain  off 
the  liquid  worked  out  of  the  butter,  which  is  con- 
ducted down  the  slope  by  means  of  a  shallow  groove 
on  either  side  of  the  plank.  A  loosely  fitting 
standard  sets  in.  a  hole  at  the  middle  of  the  lower 
end  of  the  plank,  resting  upon  a  shoulder,  and 
fastened  in  place  by  a  pin  through  the  end,  w^hich 
reaches  down  below  the  plank.  Through  a  hole  in 
this  standard  one  end  of  the  lever  is  inserted  and  the 
other  is  handled  by  the  operator.  The  working  is 
best  done  by  pressing  upon  the  butter  with  the  lever 
which  should  be  four  inches  through,  and  which  may 
be  square,  octagonal,  three-cornered,  round,  or  flat  on 
one  side  and  round  on  the  other,  to  suit  the  fancy  of 
the  Avorkman.     The  structure  of  this  simple  butter 


Butter  Making. 


235 


Fig.  41. 


worker,  if  not  already 
familiar,  will  be  under- 
stood by  figure  41. 

With  whatever  machine 
the  butter  is  worked  the 
working  should  be  done 
hj  pressing  on  the  butter, 
and  all  rubbing,  sliding, 
or  grinding  motion  most 
carefully  avoided,  as  it 
breaks  the  grain  and 
makes  the  butter  greasy. 
The  temperature  of  the 
butter  should  be  58'  to 
work  with  the  best  effect  and  greatest  facility.  If 
more  than  a  few  degrees  either  above  ,or  below  58°, 
the  work  will  not  be  so  perfectly  or  so  rapidly  done, 
and  the  grain  will  be  affected,  in  one  case  by  being  too 
soft  and  the  other  too  hard.  It  is  a  common  fault 
with  butter  makers  to  work  their  butter  too  much.  A 
watchful  attention  is  necessary  to  guard  against  this. 
Not  a  stroke  of  the  ladle  or  lever  should  be  used 
beyond  what  is  actually  needed.  Every  unnecessary 
stroke  tells  on  the  quality.  As  soon  as  ready,  the  salt 
should  be  evenly  incorporated,  always  doing  it  with 
the  least  possible  labor,  and  then  the  butter  set  away 
for  six  to  twelve  hours  for  the  salt  to  dissolve,  and  then 
worked  again  with  a  light  working.  Some  dairymen 
are  in  the  habit  of  working  but  once  and  packing  as 
soon  as  salted.  This  treatment  will  not  spoil  good 
butter,  but  when  the  finest  quality  is  desired  and  the 
butter  is  to  be  long  kept,  the  practice  is  not  advisable. 
When  the  salt  is  added  to  the  butter  it  absorbs  the 
water  of  composition  and  leaves  the  butter  a  little 


2^6  Aincricaii  Dairying. 

porous.  A  short  second  working  makes  it  more  solid. 
A  firkin  which  will  hold  loo  pounds  of  butter  worked 
once,  will  hold  about  102  pounds  of  butter  worked 
twice.  The  second  working  should  be  barely  enough 
to  press  the  mass  firmly  together  and  get  out  a  part 
of  the  brine.  To  remove  all  the  brine  makes  it  too 
dry,  but  not  to  work  out  any,  leaves  too  much  in  and 
the  texture  a  little  spongy. 

In  selecting  salt  for  use  in  the  dairy,  whether  for 
butter  or  cheese,  the  purest  made  should  be  preferred. 
A  reference  to  analyses  is  the  most  reliable  guide  for 
deciding  the  question  of  purity.  The  fancy  of  man- 
ufacturers often  leads  astray.  There  are  several 
varieties  of  salt  in  use  of  which  one  or  the  other  is 
tenaciously  clung  to  by  individual  makers,  and  firmly 
believed  to  be  better  than  all  others,  which  in  fact  is 
not  at  all  superior  to  many  of  the  rejected  varieties. 
Amone  the  best  varieties  of  salt  in  common  use  for 
butter,  may  be  named  the  Onondaga  factory  filled  salt, 
the  Ashton,  Higgin's,  Marshall,  Dean's,  Deakin's, 
Boston,  Worthington,  Washington  and  others,  which 
are  all  good. 

The  Ashton  has  many  favorites  and  is  an  excellent 
salt.  Recent  tests  have  proved  the  Onondaga  factory 
filled  equal  to  the  best,  and  as  it  is  generally  cleaner 
than  the  Ashton,  and  a  good  deal  cheaper  than  any  of 
the  foreign  brands,  it  is  more  extensively  used  than 
any  other,  and  is  increasing  in  favor  with  fancy  butter 
and  cheese  makers.  It  requires  to  be  ground  very 
fine  as  it  does  not  dissolve  quite  so  readi*ly  as  some 
others. 

Where  an  analysis  is  not  accessible  for  judging  of 
the  purity  of  salt,  a  good  test  can  be  made  by  observing 
its  behaviour  in  damp  weather.     If,  when  the  weather 


Butter  Making.  23^ 

is  damp,  salt  will  attract  moisture  enough  from  the  air 
to  appear  wet,  it  is  unfit  for  putting  into  butter 
or  cheese.  Pure  salt  remains  dry  in  wet  weather.  It 
may  stand  in  a  cellar  all  summer  without  being  sensi- 
bly moist.  It  is  the  impurities  in  salt  (notably  the 
chloride  of  calcium)  which  attract  moisture  and  make 
it  appear  wet,  hence  salt  which  will  vary  with  every 
change  in  the  hygrometric  condition  of  the  air  should 
be  rejected  by  dairymen  as  impure  and  unfit  for 
their  use. 

•  In  salting  butter  regard  need  only  be  had  to  season- 
ing. For  this  purpose  the  quality  is  varied  from  one 
ounce  down  to  one-half  an  ounce  to  a  pound  of  but- 
ter, to  suit  the  taste  of  different  individuals  and 
markets  of  the  country.  No  increase  of  salt  need 
ever  be  added  for  preserving  butter.  The  smallest 
amount  used  for  seasoning  is  always  more  than  enough 
to  do  all  that  salt  can  do  toward  preserving  butter. 
Its  keeping  depends  chiefly  on  other  conditions  than 
salting. 

When,  for  long  keeping,  a  stronger  antiseptic 
power  is  desired  than  is  furnished  by  the  salt  used  for 
seasoning,  it  had  better  be  supplied  by  saltpetre,  rather 
than  by  adding  more  salt  to  injure  the  flavor  of  the 
butter.  For  this  purpose  the  salt  used  for  seasoning 
may  be  composed  of  five  to  eight  percent,  ot  saltpetre, 
finely  pulverised  and  mingled  with  it.  This  will  aid 
in  the  preservation  of  the  butter  without  injury  to 
flavor.  Some  people  object  to  saltpetre,  fearing  its 
effect  upon  health.  No  well  grounded  objection  can 
lie  against  its  use  on  that  account,  unless  an  extrava- 
gant and  needless  amount  of  it  is  used.  In  the  pro- 
portion suggested  it  is  just  as  wholesome  as  salt,  and 


^3^  American  Dairying. 

like  salt,  enters  into  the  nutrition  of  different  parts  of 
the  body. 

Sugar,  when  perfectly  pure,  has  also  a  strong  anti- 
septic quality  when  applied  to  butter,  and  may  be 
used  when  it  is  known  that  the  consumers'  taste  will 
be  suited  with  it.  But  many  butter  fanciers  do  not 
relish  the  modified  taste  given  by  the  sugar  so  well  as 
the  taste  of  the  pure  butter,  and  hence  its  general  use 
would  be  objectionable. 

PACKING  BUTTER. 

In  packing  butter  for  preservation  or  for  con- 
venience in  transporting  to  market,  it  is  necessary  to 
guard,  first,  against  its  receiving  any  foreign  taste  or 
infection  from  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  packed  ;  second, 
against  contact  with  the  air;  third,  against  the  effects 
of  unfavorable  temperature,  and  fourth,  against  dam- 
age and  loss  by  soakage. 

For  the  preservation  of  butter,  metallic  packages 
which  would  neither  act  upon,  nor  be  acted  upon  by 
butter  or  anything  it  contains,  would  be  very  desirable, 
because  first,  they  would  avoid  all  loss  and  deteriora- 
tion by  soakage,  second,  they  would  impart  no  foreign 
flavor  to  their  contents,  and  third,  they  would  afford 
perfect  exclusion  from  the  air.  Pure  tin  answers  this 
demand.  It  allows  of  no  soakage  and  is  not  acted 
upon  by  butter,  or  the  water,  or  salt,  or  acids  it  con- 
tains, and  imparts  no  flavor  to  the  butter,  and  is  only 
deficient  in  protecting  against  temperature.  A  wooden 
envelope  would  afford  this  protection.  But  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  pure  tin,  as  the  tin  of  commerce  is  gen- 
erally more  or  less  alloyed  with  some  other  metal  which 
salt  or  lactic  acid  will  corrode. 


Butter  Making.  2jg 

To  obviate  these  difficulties,  packages  have  been  made 
of  tin,  enclosed  with  wood  and  lined  with  paraffine, 
which  work  very  well  but  are  rather  expensive. 

Enameled  cast  iron  has  also  been  tried  which  is 
subject  to  the  same  objection  as  above,  and  also  to 
being  affected  by  temperature.  Various  other  means 
have  been  tried  for  the  safe  and  convenient  convey- 
ance of  butter  to  market,  but  a  package  which  will 
not  affect  the  butter  nor  allow  of  soakage,  and  which 
will  be  air-tight  and  not  be  affected  by  temperature, 
and  yet  be  so  cheap  as  to  go  to  the  consumer  with  the 
butter  without  being  required  to  be  returned,  is  still 
a  desideratum. 

Wooden  packages,  with  all  their  faults,  continue  to 
be  the  chief  means  for  st(3ring  and  transporting  butter. 
Most  of  the  trouble  which  arises  from  their  use  is 
occasioned  by  a  faulty  preparation  of  the  wood  before 
using. 

Wood  in  its  natural  state  is  so  porous  as  not  to  pre- 
vent access  of  air  to  the  butter  it  encloses.  It  also 
contains  sap  which,  from  being  dried  down  in  season- 
ing, requires  a  long  time  to  soak  out,  and  gummy 
products  which  water  fails  to  remove.  If  these  are 
not  taken  out  before  use,  they  gradually  work  out  by 
the  agency  of  the  salt  in  the  butter,  and  injure  it. 
Superheated  steam  or  boiling  hot  brine  will  quickly 
take  out  of  wood  whatever  of  sap  or  gum  it  may 
contain.  Brine  is  within  the  reach  of  every  dairyman 
and  is  the  most  convenient  agent  for  the  general 
manufacturer. 

To  do  this  effectually  the  package  should  be  soaked 
with  strong  brine,  made  with  pure  salt,  for  two  or 
three  days;  then  this  brine  turned  out  and  boiling 
hot  brine  turned  in,  filling  the  package  to  the  brim. 


2^0  American  Dairying. 

When  this  has  stood  till  it  gets  cold,  the  cask  will  be 
fit  for  use.  All  of  the  sap  and  gum  which  the  salt 
in  the  butter  can  draw  out  will  be  removed,  and  the 
grain  of  the  wood  so  filled  with  salt  as  to  be  effectually 
impervious  to  air.  The  heads  or  covers  for  packages, 
require  the  same  treatment  as  the  packages  themselves. 

For  preserving  butter  for  any  considerable  time 
and  for  transporting  long  distances,  firkins  or  barrel 
shaped  packages  which  will  hold  about  loo  pounds, 
are  the  most  in  use,  and  if  prepared  as  above  directed 
answer  the  purpose  well.  If  soaked  only  in 
water,  or  if  soaked  in  cold  brine,  the  sap  will  not  be 
so  fully  removed  from  the  wood  but  what  it  will  soak 
out  into  the  butter  and  injure  more  or  less  of  the  part 
which  lies  next  to  the  wood.  But  when  prepared  as 
described,  the  butter  next  to  the  wood  is  just  as  good 
as  that  in  the  middle  of  the  cask. 

The  practice  of  the  best  dair)^men  in  using  firkins 
is  to  take  out  one  of  the  heads  and  cover  the  other 
with  salt  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  deep.  It  is  then 
packed  nearly  full  and  perfectly  solid,  so  as  to  have 
no  air  spaces  at  the  side  of  the  package,  leaving 
room  on  the  top  of  the  butter  to  put  on  a  layer 
of  salt  equal  to  that  on  the  bottom  head.  A  circular 
piece  of  fine  bleached  muslin,  having  a  diameter  half 
an  inch  greater  than  the  top  of  the  butter,  is  wet  with 
brine  and  laid  over  the  butter,  which  should  be 
very  even  and  smooth.  Then  with  a  wooden  tool 
shaped  like  a  gouge  with  a  thin  edge  and  with  a  cur- 
vature corresponding  to  the  side  of  the  package,  the 
edge  of  the  muslin  is  neatly  pressed  down  between 
the  outside  of  the  butter  and  the  cask.  The  package 
is  then  filled  with  salt  and  headed,  and  taken  to  the 
cellar  or  place  of  keeping,   and  the  end  having  the 


Butter  Making.  2/j.i 

muslin  on,  turned  down.  In  the  head  which  was 
before  down,  but  is  now  up,  a  y^  hole  is  bored  and  a 
saturated  brine  of  pure  salt  turned  onto  the  head  till 
the  space  under  the  head  is  filled  with  brine  and 
the  top  of  the  head  well  covered.  A  plug  that 
will  fill  the  hole  is  set  loosely  in  it  so  that  if  the  brine 
sliould  soak  away,  that  on  top  of  the  head  will  work 
down  and  keep  the  space  full,  the  plug  being  chiefly 
useful  to  exclude  light  from  the  butter.  When  butter 
which  has  been  well  made  is  thus  packed,  it  will  keep 
a  long  time  in  a  satisfactory  condition.  In  a  dry 
cellar  that  was  moderately  cool,  I  have  known  several 
instances  in  which  butter  has  been  kept  through  two 
summers  and  then  put  upon  the  market  and  sold  the 
same  as  goods  recently  made.  Butter  for  long  keep- 
ing must  be  well  made.  If  not  well  made,  it  will  soon 
deteriorate,  no  matter  how  good  may  be  the  package 
that  contains  it. 

Tubs  should  be  as  carefully  prepared  as  casks  which, 
admit  of  heading,  and  unless  going  into  immediate 
consumption,  should  be  kept  covered  to  exclude  light 
and  the  top  of  the  butter  covered  with  brine.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  have  much  depth  of  brine.  I  have 
noted  the  best  results  when  tubs  are  to  stand  long,  if  a 
cloth  is  laid  over  the  butter  as  described  for  firkins, 
and  covered  with  salt  an  inch  or  so  deep.  Then  just 
water  enough  turned  on  to  make  a  thin  coat  of  brine 
next  to  the  butter,  say  one-quarter  of  an  inch  deep, 
leaving  a  good  coat  of  dry  salt  above  the  brine.  This 
affords  a  better  protection  to  the  butter  than  when  the 
brine  covers  the  salt. 

A  good  many  dairymen  are  now  very  successfully 
preserving  and  transporting  butter  in  rolls.  Packages 
which  can   be  headed  are  eip ployed.     The  butter  is 


24-2  American  Dairying. 

made  into  cylindrical  rolls  of  the  desired  size  with  the 
ends  flattened.  Each  roll  is  wrapped  with  a  piece  of 
fine  bleached  muslin  cut  to  fit  it.  One  head  of  the 
cask  is  removed  and  a  tier  of  rolls  standing  on  end 
is  placed  on  the  bottom,  another  tier  upon  this,  and 
so  on  till  the  cask  is  full.  It  is  then  headed  and, 
through  a  hole  in  the  head,  filled  with  a  saturated 
brine.  The  hole  is  then  plugged  and  the  butter  is 
ready  either  for  transportation  or  preservation.  The 
rolls  present  the  butter  in  a  very  convenient  and 
desirable  shape  for  retailing.  Packing  in  brine  has 
one  important  advantage  over  packing  in  ice,  as  is 
often  done  in  transporting  butter  in  warm  weather. 
After  being  packed  in  ice  it  perishes  rapidly  upon 
exposure  to  the  air,  while  that  in  brine  keeps  all  the 
better  for  having  been  in  the  brine. 

A  great  many  devices  have  been  made  which  I  have 
not  space  to  enumerate,  for  keeping  butter  and  carry- 
ing it  to  market  in  such  a  way  that  it  can  be  placed 
upon  the  table  in  a  more  convenient  and  desirable 
form  than  is  given  to  it  when  cut  out  of  a  solidly 
packed  tub  or  firkin.  In  the  most  of  these  devices  the 
butter  is  made  into  pound,  half  pound  or  quarter 
pound  prints  at  the  dairy,  and  then  arranged  on  shelves 
in  boxes  of  various  patterns  with  or  without  ice.  Tin 
boxes  of  a  size  just  suited  to  receive  the  print  in  a 
fine  muslin  envelope,  make  a  very  safe  and  convenient 
instrument  for  preserving  the  perfect  form  of  the  print 
during  its  journey  to  the  retailer  or  consumer.  The 
tins  when  packed  within  a  Avooden  box  will  carry 
their  contents  a  long  way  without  marring. 

The  efforts  being  made  to  get  butter  to  market  in  a 
well  preserved  and  tasty  form,  are  worthy  of  all 
encouragement.     There  is  no   article  of  food  which 


Butter  Making, 


243 


appears  in  the  general  market,  whose  market  value 
is  more  affected  by  its  appearance  than  butter.  The 
neater  and  more  tasty  the  form  in  which  it  can  be 
presented,  the  greater  price  will  it  bring,  the  better 
satisfaction  will  it  give,  and  the  more  will  there  be 
consumed  to  give  a  demand  for  an  increased  produc- 
tion.    Some  economical  way  of  packing  butter  whicli 


Fig.  42. 


will  keep  it  sweet  and  preserve  it  in  a  nice  shape  for 
the  table  on  a  large  scale,  and  which  will  be  compara- 
tively inexpensive  and  convenient,  is  now  much 
demanded  in  butter  dairying.  One  of  the  packages 
which  comes  as  near  as  any  I  have  met  with  to  answer- 
ing this  demand,  is  known  as  the  Adams  package,  of 
which    figure   42    is  an    illustration.       The   butter  is 


j/j.^  American  Dairying. 

molded  into  cubical  blocks  weighing  just  one  pound, 
and  each  block  is  encased  in  a  thin  envelope  of  deoder- 
ized  wood,  consisting  of  two  pieces,  which  are 
cut  in  such  a  way  as  to  hold  themselves  in  place 
when  put  on.  The  blocks  thus  encased  are  packed  in 
a  box  of  wood  with  a  metallic  lining  protected  from 
rusting.  The  boxes  are  of  three  sizes,  holding  36,  45 
and  54  pounds  respectively,  and  each  is  exactly  filled 
with  the  cubes  it  is  designed  to  hold.  A  little  strong 
brine  fills  all  the  interstices  between  the  cubes,  entirely 
excluding  air  from  the  butter.  A  cover,  as  will  be 
seen,  is  fastened  down  with  a  couple  of  thumb  screws, 
closing  the  box  air  tight.  Covered  with  brine  and 
excluded  from  the  air,  and  packed  so  snugly  that  they 
cannot  move  or  mar,  the  parcels  are  in  a  position  to 
go  or  stay  at  any  season  or  by  any  mode  of  convey- 
ance without  damage.  This  mode  of  packing  seems 
to  cover  about  all  the  requirements  except  the  neces- 
sity of  returning  packages,  and  appears  to  be  well 
adapted  to  the  use  of  creameries  and  large  dairies,  who 
have  occasion  to  supply  distant  customers,  or  those 
who  desire  to  retain  the  package  till  the  contents  are 
consumed.  Being  kept  air  tight  and  under  brine  there 
is  no  deterioration  in  quality  while  the  contents  of  the 
package  are  being  consumed,  though  several  months 
may  elapse  while  doing  it. 

When  the  distance  is  not  too  great  and  when  the 
contents  of  a  package  are  soon  consumed,  the  return 
butter  pail,  figure  43  is  in  very  general  use  for  market- 
ing butter.  They  are  cheap  and  durable,  and  con- 
venient to  handle,  and  carry  their  contents  in  very 
good  order.  They  answer  the  demands  of  a  certain 
class  of  dealers  and  producers,  and  will  not  be  likely 
soon  to  go  out  of  use. 


Butter  Making. 


H5 


Fig.  43- 

For  a  smaller  class  of  butter  makers,  who  carry 
their  goods  to  a  near  by  town  as  fast  as  made,  the 
package  illustrated  in  figure  44,  for  which,  and  the 
preceding  illustration,  I  am  indebted  to  G.  B.  Weeks, 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. ,  is  finding  much  favor.    It  is  known  as 

CHESEBRO'S    DOMESTIC    BUTTER    JAR. 

Whenever  it  can  be  used  with 
safety,  a  stone  jar  has  long  been 
recognized  as  one  of  the  best 
things  known  to  keep  or  market 
(butter  in.  This  recent  invention 
is  a  stone  jar  with  a  wooden 
cover,  which  by  the  aid  of  pro- 
jections on  the  jar,  and  tinned 
hooks  on  the  cover,  screws  on 
the  jar  with  a  close  fit,  very  much 
like  the  cover  of  a  fruit  jar. 
They  are  made  of  different  sizes 
and  fitted,  as  will  be  seen,  with  a  bail,  which  makes 
them  convenient  to  handle,  and  the  projection  of  the 


Fig.  44. 


2^6  AiJicrican  Dairying, 

wooden  cover  beyond  the  sides  of  the  jar  protects  it 
against  breakages.  As  the  cover  screws  on  air  tight 
and  the  stone  ware  is  but  a  poor  conductor  of  heat, 
the  butter  carried  in  them  remains  a  long  time  with- 
out being  affected  with  the  heat. 

Having  given  a  general  account  of  the  philosophy 
and  principles  of  butter  making,  it  may  help  to  illus- 
trate the  subject  more  fully  to  give  in  detail  some  of 
the  special  practices  in  private  butter  dairies,  butter 
factories  and  creameries,  respectively.  And  first,  a  few 
words  in  regard  to  practices,  plans  of  buildings,  and 
systems  of  management  in 

PRIVATE   DAIRIES. 

The  common  error  in  private  dairies  is  to  alloAV  the 
milk  to  be  too  warm  in  hot  weather,  and  too  cold  in 
cold  weather.  The  cream  will  not  rise  perfectly  in 
either  case,  and  the  resulting  butter  will  be  imperfect. 
The  loss  sustained  in  failing  to  get  all  the  butter  that 
a  given  quantity  of  milk  is  capable  of  making,  is  much 
greater  than  is  generally  suspected.  Few  farmers 
know  how  much  milk  they  are  taking  to  make  a  pound 
of  butter.  They  seldom  weigh  or  measure,  or  even 
guess,  at  the  quantity  they  are  using.  From  what  we 
have  seen,  and  from  facts  gathered  during  a  series  of 
years,  it  appears  that  28  to  30  pounds  are  usually 
required.  Where  the  facts  could  be  got  at,  the  amount 
has  varied  all  the  way  from  44  down  to  20  pounds. 
If  the  practices  in  creaming  and  churning  could  be 
suddenly  made  so  perfect  as  to  get  all  the  butter  from 
the  milk  that  it  is  capable  of  yielding,  every  fifth  cow 
could  be  thrown  out  of  the  dairy,  and  the  same 
quantity  as   at   present    obtained.     If  farmers  would 


Butter  Making.  2^j 

take  a  little  pains  to  know  more  precisely  what  they 
are  doing,  such  losses  would  not  be  endured. 

Creameries  and  butter  factories  usually  give  us 
precise  figures,  but  even  they  are  not  always  fortunate 
in  showing  the  happiest  results.  In  factories  which  I 
have  visited,  the  difference  in  amount  required  for  a 
pound  of  butter  has  run  from  22  to  28  pounds,  and 
this  difference  is  due,  not  so  much  to  the  milk,  as  to 
the  different  modes  of  managing  it. 

Where  small  dairies  are  kept,  the  conveniences  for 
keeping  milk  for  the  cream  to  rise  are  often  very  im- 
perfect. They  are  either  in  a  cellar  where  the  air 
is  confined  and  impure,  or  in  an  upper  room  which  is 
not  protected  against  the  variations  in  temperature. 
To  subject  milk  to  the  changes  of  our  variable  climate 
while  the  cream  is  rising,  or  the  butter  after  it  is 
made,  is  to  spoil  the  peculiar  qualities  which  constitute 
it  a  delicious  luxury  that  will  command  a  high  price, 
and  to  reduce  it  to  the  level  of  common  or  inferior 
goods,  which,  instead  of  being  sought  after,  must 
crowd  their  way  to  the  hands  of  the  consumer.  It 
will  pay  every  farmer  who  keeps  half  a  dozen  cows  to 
build  a  milk  room  that  will  be  proof  against  the 
changes  of  the  weather,  one  from  which  he  can  shut 
out  the  heat,  and  that  he  can  warm  up  with  a  stove 
when  too  cold.  It  need  not  necessarily  be  very  large 
or  expensive,  but  it  should  be  tight  enough  to  guard 
against  both  heat  and  cold. 

What  has  been  done  will  perhaps  indicate  more 
forcibly  what  can  be  done.  I  know  of  a  dairy  house 
in  New  York,  which  was  built  twenty  years  ago  for 
thirty  cows,  which  I  will  briefly  describe.  An  exca- 
vation was  made  at  the  east  end  of  the  farm-house  iS 
inches  deep  and  20  feet  long  by  18  wide,  with   the 


2^S  American  Dairying. 

north  side  of  the  excavation  on  a  line  with  the  north 
si^e  of  the  house.  This  large  size  was  required  on 
account  of  the  use  of  eight  quart  pans.  This  was 
supplied  with  a  good  drain,  a  floor  of  flat  stones,  and 
surrounded  by  a  double  wall  three  feet  high,  laid  in 
mortar,  with  an  air  tight  space  between  them.  On 
this  wall  was  placed  a  wooden  frame  boarded  up  with 
tight  joints  on  the  outside  and  plastered  inside,  leav- 
ing an  air  space  between  the  walls.  The  windows 
were  double  and  the  ventilation  ample,  reaching  from 
the  flagging  to  the  floor  over  head.  The  south  end  of 
this  room  is  protected  from  the  rays  of  the  sun  by  a 
churn  room  and  shed  for  a  horse-power  to  do  the 
churning  with,  and  the  east  side  by  shade  trees  set  for 
that  purpose.  It  was  a  cheap  structure,  but  it  was  well 
planned  and  has  answered  the  end  for  which  it  was 
built.  It  might,  perhaps,  have  been  better  if  it  had 
been  supplied  with  running  water,  but  it  has  done 
very  well  without  it.  In  the  hottest  weather  the  doors 
are  kept  closed  during  the  day,  and  the  mercury  never 
rises  over  sixty-five,  hence  ice  or  running  water  is 
hardly  needed.  Soft  water  from  a  well  that  is  cool 
(about  50°)  is  used  for  washing  butter,  and  is  con- 
sidered sufficient.  In  cold  weather,  a  small  stove 
prevents  the  temperature  from  falling  below  sixty. 

This  cheap  and  unostentatious  dairy  house  has  held 
the  milk  for  many  tons  of  strictly  fa?icy  butter,  since  its 
erection,  and  is  operating  satisfactorily  still.  Its  pro- 
prietor has  not  the  advantages  which  some  have  who 
live  near  large  cities  and  can  send  in  their  butter 
every  day,  or  while  fresh  and  new,  and  who,  perhaps, 
by  the  fancy  or  caprice  of  some  individuals  or  houses, 
can  get  75  cents  or  $1  a  pound  for  goods  which,  if 
offered  without  a  name,   could   not  be  distinguished 


Butter  Making.  2/j.g 

from  hundreds  of  other  samples  that  sell  at  no  such 
figures.  He  is  a  plain,  unassuming  farmer,  entirely- 
unknown  to  fame,  and  scarcely  beyond  his  own  im- 
mediate neighborhood,  and  therefore  sells  his  butter 
without  any  prestige  or  display,  simply  on  its  merits. 
Being  made  as  it  is,  remote  from  market  and  put  up 
in  plain  firkins  for  long  keeping  without  the  use  of 
any  ice  or  running  water,  or  costly  buildings  or 
apparatus,  or  any  display  of  extraordinary  wisdom  or 
skill,  but  simply  by  the  use  of  plain  practical  common 
sense,  I  quote  the  example  with  no  little  satisfaction 
as  a  complete  demonstration  that  any  dairyman,  no 
matter  how  far  inland  he  may  be,  nor  how  plain  or 
unvarnished  himself  or  his  premises,  if  he  has  the 
cows  and  the  where-with-all  to  keep  them  and  a  well 
of  good  water,  has  within  his  reach  the  means  of 
making  gilt  edge  butter,  for  all  the  rest  depends  on 
himself  It  affords  a  full  refutation  of  the  excuses 
which  men  are  in  the  habit  of  making  to  themselves 
for  sending  to  market  butter  below  par  instead  of 
above,  thinking  honestly  enough  perhaps,  that  they 
cannot  have  a  cool,  even  tempered  milk  room,  or  make 
the  best  butter,  because  they  lack  ice  or  running  water, 
and  are  too  far  from  market  to  have  their  goods  sell 
well.  This  example  and  others  which  might  be  cited, 
ought  to  encourage  dairymen  to  aspire  to  similar 
excellence,  and  to  assure  them  that  gilt  edged  butter 
is  confined  to  no  spot. 

Of  course  such  butter  cannot  be  made  unless  every 
step  in  the  process  is  taken  with  care  and  skill.  One 
wrong  practice  would  be  fatal  to  fancy  butter,  for  a 
wrong  step  once  taken  in  butter  making  can  never  be 
recalled  nor  effaced.  Its  effects  will  run  through  the 
entire  existence  of  the  butter. 


2 JO  American  Dairying. 

A  description  of  a  more  modern  dairy  house  and 
the  practices  of  its  proprietor,  will  serve  to  further 
emphasize  the  possibility  and  importance  of  proper 
facilities  for  butter  making.  It  is  located  in  Franklin 
County,  N.  Y.,  in  the  midst  of  the  best  butter  factories 
in  the  county,  and  is  designed  for  the  milk  of  fifty 
cows.  The  room  is  about  14  by  20  feet,  8  feet  high, 
and  located  in  the  center  of  the  north  side  of  the 
dwelling-house.  Its  walls  are  plastered,  and  its 
ceiling  neatly  painted;  its  light  and  ventilation 
comes  from  a  north  window.  It  contains  four 
pans  8  feet  long  by  3^  wide  and  seven  inches 
deep,  and  nothing  else  except  the  necessary  pipes  for 
the  supply  and  waste  of  water,  and  for  carrying  away 
the  sour  milk.  This  room  is  kept  secure  by  a  lock 
and  key,  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  enter  it  but  when  it 
is  necessary  to  the  care  of  the  milk.  The  pans  are 
placed  20  inches  apart,  with  one  end  standing  against 
a  partition  that  separates  the  milk  room  from  a  hall 
passing  through  the  house.  Through  this  parti- 
tion, a  little  above  the  end  of  each  pan,  is  a  hole, 
which  is  ordinarily  kept  closed  with  a  plug.  By 
means  of  a  tin  receiver  and  strainer,  with  a  tube 
attached,  the  milk,  when  brought  into  the  hall,  is 
passed  through  the  hole  in  the  wall,  and  discharged 
into  the  pan,  the  carrier  not  entering  the  milk  room. 
This  prevents  the  milkers  from  carrying  any  filth  into 
the  room,  or  of  polluting  the  atmosphere  by  any  scent 
of  the  barn  or  milk  yard  that  might  attach  to  their 
clothes.  In  this  way  the  air  in  the  milk  room  is  kept 
in  the  purest  possible  condition,  and  the  milk  is  effect- 
ually prevented  from  absorbing  any  foreign  odor  what- 
ever. By  following  this  systematic  neatness  through 
all  the  operations  of  the  dairy,  the  butter  comes  out 


Butter  Making.  2§i 

at  the  end  of  the  manufacturing  process,  with  nothing 
but  its  own  natural  flavor.  The  operations  of  skim- 
ming, churning,  salting,  working  and  cooling,  are  the 
same  as  in  the  factories,  except  that  the  cooling  in  the 
dairy,  which  is  by  water  under  the  pan,  is  a  little 
slower.  This  latter  circumstance  indicates  whence 
the  more  perfect  flavors  and  larger  yield  of  the  but- 
ter. The  cows  of  this  dairy,  when  I  visited  it,  were  of 
the  same  breed  as  those  supplying  milk  to  the  fac- 
tories, had  the  same  kind  of  pasturage,  and  no  advan- 
tage of  soil  or  location,  or  other  circumstances  exter- 
nal to  the  dairy  management ;  but  the  butter  of  this 
dairy  was  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  factories,  both 
in  its  new  and  in  its  preserved  condition;  and  while 
the  factories  were  using  23  pounds  of  milk  for  one  of 
butter,  this  dairy  was  using  only  20.2  pounds.  The 
factory  butter  was  esteemed  by  some  as  gilt  edged. 
If  so,  then  this  was  gilt  with  finer  gold.  It  was  indeed 
a  very  choice  article.  The  methods  of  manufacture 
pursued  in  this  dairy,  though  somewhat  different  from 
those  of  private  dairies  generally,  did  not  vary  much 
from  those  pursued  in  the  neighboring  factories. 

A  DAIRY  SPRING  HOUSE. 

The  following  answer  given  to  a  correspondent  in 
North  Carolina,  through  the  N,  V.  Tribune,  may  meet 
the  wants  of  some  others : 

I  would  build  a  spring  house  with  the  walls  double 
and  a  good  dead  air  space  between  them,  perfectly 
tight.  For  35  cows,  12x18  on  the  ground  would  do  ; 
8  feet  between  flaors,  and  a  ventilator  overhead  that 
could  be  easily  regulated.  Light  should  be  admitted 
near  the  upper  floor,  and  from  a  northern  exposure. 


252 


A  ni  erica  n  Da  iry  uig. 


A  double  door  would  be  preferable.     I  should  prefer 
using  large  pans,  as  they  save   labor  and  yield  more 

butter,  but    as  cooler- 


g...^j>.w-v^..j-v.. -r./.yTT. 


Fig-  45- 


pails  are  to  be  used,  1 
would  divide  the  house 
by  a  partition,  giv- 
ing two  rooms  11x12 
and  7x12  respectively. 
The  pool  should  be 
placed  at  one  side  of 
the  large  room,  and  be 
17  inches  deep,  and  divided  into  four  compartments, 
so  that  when  a  mess  of  warm  milk  is  put  in,  it  will 
not  warm  up  the  cold  milk.  The  whole  pool  may 
occupy  9  feet  by  12,  and  be  made  either  of  cement  or 
plank.  The  water  should  be  admitted  by  a  pipe  with 
a  faucet  for  each  compartment  of  the  pool,  so  as  to 
regulate  the  flow  of  water  to  secure  the  right  temper- 
ature. The  other  apartment  may  be  used  for  a  churn 
room.  The  diagram  will  show  the  general  idea.  A, 
is  the  ante-room  ;  B  B,  doors ;  C,  churning  room  ;  D, 
folding  doors ;   E,  passage  to  the  pools;   F  F,  pools. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  gives  the 
following,  which  is  a  very  good  way  of  constructing 
a  milk  room,  where  shallow  setting  is  used  without 
water  or  ice : 

Lay  up  a  foundation  with  good  hard  burnt  bricks,  or  with 
stones,  a  thirteen  inch  wall.  On  this  set  a  frame,  say  of  five  inch 
studding.  After  siding  up,  ceil  on  the  inside,  and  fill  in  with 
charcoal.  Overhead  have  a  flooring  and  ceiling  beneath  the 
joists,  putting  charcoal  between.  This  is  a  non-conductor  of  heat 
and  also  a  good  absorbent  of  foul  air.  Have  doors  on  one  end 
and  on  each  side  ;  at  least  two-thirds  the  distance  back  from  the 
door,  put  windows  with  sash  hung  at  top,  to  be  hooked  up  to 
ceiling.     Get  wire  gauze,  paint  it,  and  tack  over  each  window  to 


Butter  Making.  2^j 

exclude  all  vermin,  "  from  a  cat  to  a  gnat."  Now  put  from  four 
to  six  inches  of  good  gravel  on  the  floor  and  pound  it  till  it  is 
solid;  then  cement  this,  as  you  would  a  cistern,  also  the  side 
walls.  As  your  frame  will  not  extend  in  as  far  as  your  wall,  you 
can  put  a  shelf  on  it,  say  nine  inches  wide,  which  will  be  handy  to 
use  for  various  purposes.  Lastly,  put  a  six  inch  tube  of  galvan- 
ized iron  at  the  rear  end,  running  from  within  a  foot  of  the  ground 
to  two  feet  above  the  roof,  with  a  cap  on  top  and  an  opening  on 
each  side  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  tube.  Then,  with  good 
sweet  pans  you  will  have  milk  and  butter  that  will  do  to  set  before 
a  queen.  Scrupulous  cleanliness  is  ver)'^  important ;  witliout  this, 
no  milk  house  will  make  good  butter. 

The  following  plans  for  the  construction  of  apart- 
ments suitable  for  creaming  milk  are  novel  and  at  this 
time  attracting  some  attention  : 

Prof.  J.  Wilkinson,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  has  developed 
and  patented  a  plan  substantially  as  follows  :  He 
builds  a  dairy  house  of  any  desired  form  or  size  to 
suit  the  w^ants  of  the  dairy,  with  double  walls  and 
floor,  making  it  as  near  as  may  be  air  tight.  The 
house  may  be  partly  below  ground  or  wholly  above, 
the  former  with  a  location  with  some  inclination  is 
preferred.  An  air  duct  is  laid  in  the  ground  on  the 
elevated  side  of  the  incline,  lOo  feet  or  so  in  length 
and  deep  enough  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  influence 
from  frost  and  sun,  and  at  the  end,  remote  from  the 
dairy,  connects  the  duct  with  the  open  air  by  a  tube. 
The  other  end  opens  into  the  dairy  at,  or  near,  the 
floor.  This  duct  will,  of  course,  fill  with  air.  When 
the  air  above  ground  is  warm,  it  will  soon  become 
cool  by  entering  the  duct  below  ground,  because  the 
sides  of  the  duct  will  have  the  uniform  temperature 
of  the  earth  at  that  depth,  which  is  about  60  degrees. 
As  it  cools  it  becomes  heavy  and  runs  down  into  the 
dairy  room,  which  if  closed  and  tight,  will  be  filled 
with  air  at  60°,  for,  as  the  cold  air  passes  out  of  the 


2^^  American  Dairying. 

duct  at  the  lower  end,  the  warm  air  follows  in  at  the 
upper  end,  and  in  turn  becomes  cool  and  heavy  and 
flows  down  into  the  dairy,  keeping  a  constant  current 
passing  into  the  dairy,  if  there  is  a  sufficient  outlet 
for  the  cooled  air  to  get  out  of  the  way.  When  it  is 
desired  to  stop  the  flow  of  cool  air,  or  to  lessen  it,  it 
is  effected  by  turning  a  valve  in  the  duct  at  its  entrance 
into  the  dairy,  and  to  prevent  the  room  from  filling 
any  fuller  than  is  necessary  for  cooling  the  milk  or 
its  products,  a  similar  duct  runs  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  room  down  the  incline,  and  at  length 
discharges  its  contents  upom  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
The  end  of  the  discharge  duct,  when  it  enters  the 
room,  terminates  in  a  flexible  tube  which  may  be 
elevated  more  or  less,  to  vary  at  pleasure,  the  height 
to  which  the  cool  air  shall  rise  before  it  runs  out  of 
the  room.  The  cool  air  will  not  rise  above  the  mouth 
of  the  discharge  pipe.  When  the  outside  air  is  colder 
than  the  temperature  in  the  ducts,  the  motion  of  the 
air  will  be  reversed.  It  will  rise  in  the  upper  duct 
and  go  out  through  the  tube  A  and  follow  into  the 
dairy  through  the  lower  duct,  thus  keeping  the  room 
at  60°,  or  as  near  as  may  be,  the  year  round. 

The  sub-earth  ducts  are  made  by  an  excavation  like 
an  ordinary  underdrain,  and  at  the  bottom  an  A  shaped 
channel  is  made  with  roofing  tile  by  laying  the  upper 
edges  together  and  setting  the  lower  ones  against  the 
outer  edge  of  the  ditch,  as  represented  in  figure  46, 
which  shows  a  section  of  the  ditch  as  now  made. 

The  tile  and  the  excavating  and  filling  the  ditch  will 
generally  cost  about  $1  per  rod,  making  the  cost  of 
thus  cooling  and  ventilating  a  dairy  about  $100.  But 
when  it  is  done  it  is  expected  to  run  itself  indefinitely 
without  further  cost. 


Butter  Making. 


255 


This  system  of  cooling  and  airing  a  dairy  has  not, 
that  I  am  aware  of,  been  long  enough  in  use  to  deter- 
mine fully  by  practical  tests,  the  extent  of  its  useful- 
ness, but  it  looks  well  theoretically,  and  some  of  its 
results  can  be  easily  foretold.  First,  the  air  which 
enters  the  room  through  the  sub-earth  duct  will  be 
pure  as  well  as  cool.  The  absorbent  properties  of 
earth,  it  is  well  known,  will  deprive  it  of  all  noxious 
gases  and  odors,  and  take  up  its  moisture  and  dust. 


Fis.  46. 


Whether  the  surface  of  the  duct  will  ever  become 
saturated  so  that  it  will  cease  to  absorb  the  im- 
purities of  the  air,  time  must  determine.  But  it 
is  certain  that  the  air,  in  passing  slowly  through 
the  duct,  cannot  fail  to  fall  to  the  temperature  of 
the  earth  in  which  it  is  imbedded ;  nor  can  it  fiiil, 
for  a  time  at  least,  to  be  entirely  freed  from  vapor, 
dust  and  odors,  by  reason  both  of  contact  with  tlie 
earth,  and  of  condensation  from  its  reduced  tempera- 
ture. It  allows  of  cooling  milk  with  air  instead  of 
water.  It  is  very  much  better  for  butter  making  to 
cool  milk  with  cold  air  than  to  cool  it  with  cold  water. 


2j6  Ainerican  Dairying. 

When  milk  becomes  cplder  than  the  air  in  the  room 
in  which  it  stands,  as  is  the  case  when  cooled  with  ice 
or  cold  water,  it  tends  by  its  greater  coldness  to  con- 
dense, and  take  in  vapor  from  the  surrounding  air, 
with  whatever  of  impurities  that  air  may  contain.  But 
when  the  air  is  colder  than  the  milk,  the  air  becomes 
tlie  recipient,  and  takes  up  and  holds  whatever  exha- 
lations may  arise  frijm  the  milk,  and  hence  tends  to 
deoderize  it.  It  must  be  apparent  that  it  would  make 
a  v»'ide  difference  in  the  quality  of  butter,  whether, 
while  the  cream  is  rising,  the  milk  is  cleansing  the  air, 
or  the  air  cleansing  the  milk. 

The  system  appears  to  offer  great  advantages  for 
private  dairies  and  for  all  occasions  where  the  milk 
can  be  spread  out  so  as  not  to  be  more  than  about 
four  inches  deep.  For  very  large  masses  of  milk, 
which  require  large  and  deep  vessels,  it  would  not 
seem  to  be  so  well  adapted.  Large  bodies  of  milk 
require  a  medium  for  cooling  to  have  a  temperature 
lower  than  60°,  and  to  have  a  better  power  of  conduct- 
ing heat  than  air  at  60%  to  cool  them  soon  enough  to 
prevent  spoiling.  For  cooling  large  quantities  of 
milk  in  deep  vessels,  ice  or  cold  water  becomes  neces- 
sary. To  make  the  sub-earth  duct  available  in  such 
cases,  Prof  W.,  proposes  to  connect  the  ice  house  with 
the  dairy,  and  to  pass  an  air  duct  under  the  ice,  and  to 
arrange  it  so  as  to  be  connected  or  disconnected  at 
pleasure  with  the  sub-earth  duct.  When  it  is  desired 
to  have  the  air  in  the  dairy  lower  than  60°,  by  con- 
necting the  sub-earth  duct  with  the  sub-ice  duct,  the 
air  may  be  made  to  enter  the  dairy  at  a  very  low  degree 
without  the  trouble  of  handling  the  ice,  and  thus  with 
great  ease  and  advantage  cool  much  larger  bodies  of 
milk  than  could  be  done  with  the  earth  duct  alone. 


Butter  Making.  2^y 

While  in  no  case,  either  from  fear  or  favor,  will  the 
space  in  this  volume  be  devoted  to  puffing  patents  or 
condemning  them  because  they  are  such,  when  they 
promise  anything  useful ;  and  while  the  author  is 
neither  inclined  himself  to  risk  much  on  theory  alone 
ti  11  corroborated  by  practical  test,  nor  to  advise  others 
to  do  so,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  not  to  omit  a 
fair  and  unbiased  statement  of  what  may  reasonably 
be  expected  of  this  patent,  which  seems  to  have  enough 
of  merit  to  challenge  public  attention,  and  the  same 
remark  will  apply  to  the  one  which  follows,  and  also 
to  a  few  others  which  will  be  hereafter  noticed. 

HARDIN'S  METHOD. 

Mr.  L.  S.  Hardin,  an  enterprising  dairyman  near 
Louisville,  Kv.,  has  adopted  and  published  a  plan  of 
creaming  milk  which,  in  some  of  its  features  is  novel 
and  simple,  and  apparently  so  feasible  as  to  attract  a 
good  deal  of  favorable  notice. 

The  plan  was  originally  designed  for,  and  is  best, 
adapted  to  farm  dairies.  It  consists  of  what  may  be 
called  a  cooling  cupboard — a  box  just  large  enough 
to  hold  the  milk  of  the  dairy,  when  put  in  deep  vessels 
like  common  cooler  pails.  The  box  is  made  as  near 
air  tight  as  may  be,  with  closely  fitting  doors,  and 
high  enough  to  admit  the  coolers  and  leave  a  space 
over  them  for  an  ice  shelf.  In  the  bottom  of  the  box 
is  a  pan  four  inches  deep  which  catches  the  drip  from 
the  ice  above  the  milk.  An  inch  space  is  left  on  each 
side  of  the  shelf  to  give  the  heat  arising  from  the  milk 
access  to  the  ice,  which,  slowly  melting,  drips  down 
upon  the  covers  of  the  cans  and  then  into  the  pan  at 
the  bottom,  in  which  the  water  is  allowed  to  rise  four 


^58 


A  mcrican  Dairying. 


inches  and  no  more.  The  cans  are  made  with  a  per- 
forated rim  at  the  bottom  to  allow  the  water  to  run 
under  them.  Thus  the  milk,  i6  to  i8  inches  deep,  stands 
in  4  inches  of  ice  water,  with  the  part  above  the  water 

in   air  at  49°  (F),  or  as 
near  as  it  can  be  to  that 
degree.      See  figure  47. 
Says  Mr.  Hardin:     "I 
refuse  to  give  the  milk 
a   particle    of    ventila- 
tion from   the    time  it 
leaves  the  cow's  udder 
^  until    it  is   put  in  the 
^  "f  churn.       The    milk    is 
^  strained     warm     from 
^  the  cows  into  deep  cans 
and  close  fitting  covers 
Pig'  47-  fastened    on,    and    the 

cans  placed  immediately  in  the  refrigerator,  and  the 
temperature  reduced  with  ice  below  50°,  and  held  at  a 
low,  even  temperature  2,6  hours,  when  the  cream  is 
taken  off  sweet,  and  churned  immediately  at  58°  in 
warm  and  6t,°  in  cold  weather.  Any  churn  worked  at 
40  strokes  a  minute  will  bring  the  butter  in  about  20 
minutes." 

This  plan  is  known  as  a  modification  of  the  Swedish 
deep  setting.  It  has  some  obvious  advantages.  ist. 
It  economizes  the  refrigerating  agent  to  the  fullest 
extent.  It  is  certainly  a  useless  waste  of  ice  or  other 
cooling  agent,  to  cool  twenty  times  as  much  cubic 
space  as  the  milk  to  be  cooled  occupies.  2d.  It  pro- 
duces cream  of  uniform  ripeness.  In  setting  milk  in 
vessels  which  cool  by  ice  or  water  below  the  temper- 
ature of  the  air  iu  the   milk  room,  the  cream  ripens 


Butter  'Making.  ^5P 

unequally.  The  part  exposed  to  the  air  ripens  faster 
than  tlie  lower  part  which  is  unexposed  and  cooler. 
This  unequal  ripening  is  unfavorable  to  the  butter 
and  to  perfeet  cliurning.  3d.  It  favors  the  ascent  of 
cream  by  cooling  more  intensely  at  the  bottom  of  the 
vessel  than  at  the  top  or  sides,  thus  diminishing  cur- 
rents in  the  milk.  When  milk  is  cooled  from  the  top 
and  sides  the  cooled  milk  settles  down,  making  cur- 
rents which  carry  some  of  the  cream  down  with  the 
milk,  and  thus  retard  its  rising.  As  the  upper  and 
main  part  of  the  cans  stand  in  cold  air  instead  of  cold 
water,  the  cooling  in  the  upper  part  is  slow,  utilizing 
more  fully  the  effect  of  a  falling  temperature.  The 
upper  part  of  the  milk,  too,  being  for  a  time  at  least, 
warmer  than  the  lower  part,  all  the  cream  which 
comes  to  the  surface  stays  up,  which  is  an  item  of 
some  value.  4th.  Another  favorable  circumstance  is 
the  great  number  of  degrees  through  which  the  milk, 
while  still  and  free  from  currents,  is  made  to  fall.  It 
can  easily  be  made  to  drop  through  a  range  of  40°, 
thus  widening  to  the  fullest  extent  the  difference 
between  the  specific  gravities  of  cream  and  milk, 
which,  as  has  been  elsewhere  shown,  favor  the  rising 
of  cream.  Considering  simply  as  a  method  of  raising 
cream  it  must  be  fairly  successful,  when  the  cans  hold- 
ing the  milk  are  made  suflSciently  small.  Large  bodies 
of  warm  milk  cannot  be  cooled  with  sufficient  rapidity 
by  admitting  air  only  on  the  sides  of  the  vessels,  to 
prevent  it  from  souring  before  the  cream  could  rise. 
I  should  hardly  expect  that  a  body  of  milk  of  ordi- 
nary qualities,  10  inches  in  diameter  and  18  inches 
deep,  would  cool  soon  enough  to  avoid  injury  before 
the  cream  would  all  reach  the  surface. 

Another  peculiarity  in  Mr.  H's.  method,  is  the  com- 


26o  American  Dairying. 

plete  saving  it  makes  of  all  the  flavoring  oils  which 
the  milk  contains.  Some  of  these  oils  are  alw^ays  so 
volatile  as  to  lose  strength  by  standing  open  to  the 
air,  so  that  something  of  the  very  highest  flavor  which 
butter  is  capable  of  possessing,  is  liable  to  escape 
where  milk  is  spread  out  very  thin  for  the  cream  to 
rise.  Mr.  Hardin's  method  of  closely  covering  the 
milk  retains  all  this  aroma  in  the  cream,  but  in  this 
respect  his  plan  appears  a  little  too  economical  for 
general  use.  It  saves  all  the  covvy  odor  peculiar  to 
new  milk,  which  an  abundant  experience  has  proved 
to  be  detrimental  both  to  the  flavor  and  keeping  of 
butter. 

Mr.  H.  assumes  that  milk  is  perfect  when  it  comes 
from  the  cow,  or  ought  to  be,  and  that  its  defects  come 
by  contact  with  the  air,  and  that  the  more  milk  is  aired 
the  worse  it  is  for  it;  and  that  "animal  odor"  is  a 
myth  that  need  not  be  regarded,  a  position  in  which 
he  is  certainly  wrong.  That  there  is  something  not 
quite  perfect  in  milk  as  it  comes  from  the  cow,  must 
be  evident  from  the  fact  that  people  are  often  met  with 
who  cannot  use  the  best  of  new  milk  at  all,  until  after 
the  animal  or  cowy  odor  has  passed  off.  It  is  objec- 
tionable to  them  not  only  because  it  is  warm,  but 
because  of  the  nauseating  flavor  and  odor  it  contains. 
There  are  many  persons  who  can  use  milk  warm  after 
it  has  stood  awhile,  who  cannot  do  so  when  it  is  new. 
There  is  no  class  of  people  who  are  so  particular 
about  having  milk  in  the  best  possible  condition  as 
the  managers  of  condensing  factories.  Everything 
that  appears  at  all  faulty  is  rejected,  yet  milk,  while 
condensing,  invariably  gives  off"  a  strong  smell  ot 
animal  odor  at  the  beginning  of  the  process.  Any 
one  bringing  his  olfactories  in  contact  with  the  vapors 


Butter  Making.  261 

pumped  from  the  vacuum  pan  in  a  condensing  factory 
for  the  first  twenty  minutes,  will  not  question  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  animal  odor  in  milk,  and  that 
it  is  a  never  failing  and  disagreeable  accompaniment 
of  new  milk.  That  there  is  much  less  of  this  odor  in 
some  milk  than  in  others,  is  true.  It  is  also  true  that 
there  is  sometimes  so  little,  that  good  results  are 
obtained  where  new  milk  is  cooled  so  quickly  as  to 
retain  nearly  the  whole  of  it  in  the  milk  and  cream. 
And  further,  it  is  also  true  that  butter  made  from  milk 
cooled  with  the  odor  all  in,  may  have  a  better  flavor 
and  better  keeping  quality  than  some  other  butter 
made  from  milk  open  to  the  air,  but  that  all  milk,  or 
that  milk  generally,  would  make  better  butter  for  hav- 
ing the  cowy  odor  retained  in  it  by  shutting  it  from 
the  air  while  cooling,  is  a  proposition  which  it  will  be 
hard  to  make  dairymen  believe  who  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  handle  all  kinds  of  milk.  But  as  the  adage 
runs,  *'the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating," 
and  if  this  method,  when  fairly  tried,  makes  better  but- 
ter than  by  leaving  the  milk  open  to  the  air,  the 
proposition  of  Mr.  Hardin  must  be  accepted.  That 
his  method  will  make  as  much  as  any  other  is  not 
difficult  to  comprehend,  but  that  it  will,  as  a  rule, 
make  better  butter  than  setting  milk  in  pure  air,  such 
as  would  be  supplied  by  Prof.  Wilkinson's  sub-earth 
duct,  will  hardly  be  credited  until  it  can  be  showm  that 
animal  odor  is  a  good  thing  to  have  in  milk  and 
butter. 

Whatever  may  be  the  position  which  the  method 
introduced  by  Mr.  Hardin  may  finally  assume  in  dairy 
practice,  he  deserves  a  place  in  the  list  of  progressive 
dairymen,  and  is  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  whole 
dairy  public  for  the  extent  of  discussion  and  experi- 


262  '   American  Dairying. 

ment  which  his  innovation  has  provoked,  for  they 
must,  in  the  end,  result  in  great  good,  whether  his 
system  survives  or  not. 

The  experiments  thus  far  made  have  not  been  very 
decisive,  taken  as  a  whole,  having  sometimes  proved 
better  than  the  open  pan  system,  and  sometimes  not 
so  good. 

Mr.  O.  C.  Blodgett,  of  Chautauqua,  the  indefati- 
gable secretary  of  the  Western  N.  Y.  Dairymen's  Asso- 
ciation, has  adopted  a  very  convenient  mode  of  setting 
milk,  which  has  worked  well  with  him  and  many 
others  in  that  county. 

He  uses  shallow  pans  and  sets  them  in  a  room  above 
ground,  spreading  the  milk  so  much  in  warm  weather 
that  it  will  not  be  more  than  two  or  two  and  a  half 
inches  deep.  In  cool  weather  he  would  increase  the 
depth.  His  theory  is,  that  while  milk  spoils  the 
sooner  for  being  warm,  the  cream  also  rises  faster 
when  it  is  warm,  and  the  thinner  it  is  the  sooner  the 
cream  comes  to  the  surface.  Hence  by  adapting  the 
depth  to  the  temperature,  and  skimming  as  soon  as 
the  milk  is  distinctly  sour,  whether  it  be  in  12  or  48 
hours,  he  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  very  even  results 
amid  varying  temperatures,  and  producing  an  excel- 
lent quality  of  butter.  For  a  short  time  during  the 
largest  flow,  two  pans  are  used  to  hold  the  milk 
of  one  milking — one  twice  as  large  as  the  other. 
When  the  milk  shrinks  to  the  capacity  of  the  larger 
pan,  the  smaller  one  is  laid  aside  till  late  fall  or  winter, 
when  it  takes  the  place  of  the  larger  pan. 

The  pans  are  made  of  common  tin  and  set  on  a 
cheap  frame  at  a  convenient  height  for  working,  and 
are  supplied  with  faucets  to  run  off  sour  milk  or  water 
when   washing  them.     The  whole  fixtures  are  inex- 


Butter  Making.  26 j 

pensive  and  labor  saving,  reducing  the  dairy  work  to 
its  minimum.  These  are  excellent  features  and  com- 
mend the  practice  to  the  attention  of  dairymen.  The 
greatest  objection  to  it  is,  that  only  a  skillful  operator 
can  manage  it,  as  the  conditions  of  the  milk  and  cream 
must  be  all  the  time  varying  with  the  changes  of  the 
weather.  I  should  fear  that  nothing  short  of  the 
accomplishments  of  the  distinguished  secretary  would 
suffice  to  keep  track  of  the  constantly  varying  condi- 
tions of  the  milk.  It  must  certainly  require  more ' 
skill  and  judgment  than  when  milk  is  subject  to  an 
even  temperature. 

The  following  plan  of  constructing  an  ice  house 
and  dairy  was  recommended  in  the  N.  Y.  Tribune, 
some  three  years  ago,  and  has  been  adopted  with  good 
results.  The  ice  house  is  attached  to  the  dairy  room, 
but  is  three  or  four  feet  higher  than  the  floor  of  the 
dairy,  making  a  location  on  an  incline  desirable. 

The  floor  of  the  ice  house  carries  the  drip  away 
from  the  dairy,  and  under  it  is  a  chamber  into  which 
cold  air  from  the  ice  can  fall  and  be  held  without 
wasting.  The  milk  room  is  built  with  double  walls, 
with  charcoal,  or  some  non-conductor  filled  in  between 
them,  and  with  double  floors  and  windows.  The  air 
in  a  room  thus  constructed  will  seldom  need  any  tem- 
pering in  the  latitude  of  New  York.  Whenever  it  is 
warm  enough  to  require  it,  a  cooling  cupboard  should 
be  made  on  the  side  of  the  dairy-room  next  to  the  ice, 
just  large  enough  to  hold  the  milk  and  cream,  and  be 
made  as  near  air  tight  as  possible.  The  chilled  air 
under  the  ice  is  admitted  to,  or  shut  off  from,  this  cup- 
board by  a  valve,  as  shown  in  figure  48.  The  use  of 
this  cupboard  saves  cooling  the  air  of  a  whole  room, 
thus   economizing  the  waste    of   ice  to    the   greatest 


26^ 


A  7nerican  Dairying. 


extent  possible,  and  saves  the  labor  of  handling  the 
ice,  and  at  the  same  time  gives  the  best  refrigeration, 
as  it  is  much  better  to  have  milk  stand  in  cold  air  than 
cold  water.  If  it  is  desired  to  keep  butter  in  hot 
weather,  cold  air  can  be  let  into  a  separate  apartment 


for  that  purpose.  Any  kind  of  vessel  for  holding  the 
milk  can  be  used,  but  for  the  sake  of  economizing 
space  of  cupboard,  cooler  pails  or  deep  and  narrow 
pans  would  be  preferred.  Vessels  broad  and  deep 
would  endanger  the  safety  of  the  milk  by  reason  of 
the  slow  cooling  by  air. 


Butter  Factories.  26^ 


BUTTER  FACTORIES. 


The  butter  factory  is  a  modern  institution.  Tt  is  an 
establishment  for  making  butter  from  the  milk  of 
several  herds  of  cows  on  an  associated  plan  similar 
to  that  on  which  cheese  factories  are  managed.  The 
milk  is  brought  to  the  factory  twice  a  day  by  the  dairy- 
men in  tin  cans  the  same  as  are  used  for  cheese  fac- 
tories, and  they  take  back  in  them  the  sour  milk,  which 
is  divided  according  to  the  milk  delivered.  When  the 
factory  is  owned  by  a  stock  company,  the  company 
employ  hands  to  manufacture  the  butter,  and  generally 
appoint  one  of  their  number  to  superintend  the  work 
and  the  division  or  sale  of  the  butter.  Sometimes  the 
factory  is  owned  by  one  man,  in  which  case  he  makes 
the  butter  by  the  pound,  at  a  price  agreed  upon,  which 
is  usually  four  cents  a  pound,  and  the  butter  is  divided 
pro  rata^  or  sold  and  the  money  divided.  The  mode 
of  treating  the  milk  is  not  always  the  same.  In  the 
earlier  butter  factories  the  pail  and  pool  system  was 
adopted,  in  which  pails  of  tin,  twenty  inches  deep  and 
eight  inches  in  diameter,  were  used  to  set  the  milk  in. 
These  were  placed  in  pools  of  water  at  sixty  degrees 
or  below,  the  temperature  of  which  was  kept  down  by 
cool  spring  water,  admitted  through  a  faucet  to  each 
pool.  The  pails  were  filled  just  full  enough  to  have 
the  milk  an  inch  below  the  top  of  the  water  when  the 
pails  were  set  in  the  pools,  otherwise  the  top  of  the 


266  American  Dairying. 

milk  would  sour  too  soon.  The  milk  was  kept  stand- 
ing in  the  pools  till  it  became  slightly  sour,  which 
would  be  from  48  to  72  hours,  according  to  the  cool- 
ness of  the  water  and  the  weather ;  the  cream  was  then 
dipped  off  and  churned,  and  the  butter  made  in  the 
usual  way,  using  water,  horse,  or  steam  power  to  do 
the  churning.  The  "  pail  and  pool  system  "  is  but 
little  used  now  in  factories  which  make  only  butter. 
This  mode  has  been  succeeded  by  the  use  of  large  pans, 
either  deep  or  shallow,  and  the  factories  using  them 
deserve  a  more  particular  notice. 

In  Franklin  co.,  N.  Y.,  butter  factories  have  become 
so  popular  as  to  displace  nearly  all  the  cheese  factories 
within  their  circuit.  The  butter  from  these  factories 
has  attracted  general  attention  and  gained  a  favorable 
position  in  the  large  markets;  hence,  there  is  the 
more  occasion  for  inspecting  them  carefully.  They 
are  all  quite  similar  in  form  and  size.  Compared  with 
cheese  factories,  they  are  small,  and  though  plain,  they 
are  very  neat  structures. 

Our  cuts,  figures  49  and  50,  represent  the  West  Ban- 
gor Butter  Factory,  Franklin  county,  N.  Y.  It  is  50 
feet  long — 60  witli  the  porch— by  30  feet  wide,  with  posts 
about  18  feet  high.  The  basement,  which  constitutes 
the  cellar,  is  laid  up  with  a  thick  wall  of  Potsdam 
sandstone.  It  has  an  air  space  in  the  middle  ;  and  the 
bottom  of  the  cellar  is  neatly  flagged  with  this  sand- 
stone laid  in  cement.  This  prevents  the  development 
of  any  underground  smell,  and  keeps  the  temperature 
uniform  at  about  60°.  The  air  in  this  cellar,  when  we 
saw  it,  was  just  as  pure  as  that  of  any  upper  room. 
The  superstructure  is  of  wood,  clapboarded  on  the 
outside,  and  lathed  and  plastered  within. 

The  lower  floor  contains  a  milk  room,  30x37  feet,  a 


Butter  Factories.  26y 

work  room,  22x13,  and  a  churn  room,  8x13,  with  an 
engine  and  wood  room  attached.  The  upper  story  is 
used  as  a  dwelling  by  the  manufacturer.  The  milk 
room  contains  twelve  large  pans,  measuring  130  inches 
in  length  by  51  wide  and  7  deep,  giving  them  a 
capacity  of  200  gallons,  sufficient  to  hold  the  milk  of 
100  cows  for  one  milking.  Through  the  middle  of 
the  milk  room  is  a  track  for  a  hand-car,  and  the  pans 
are  arranged  on  either  side  of  it,  six  on  a  side,  20 
inches  apart,  with  one  end  butting  against  the  outer 
wall,  as  seen  in  the  -ground  plan.  Just  above  the 
ends  of  the  pans,  a  water  pipe,  connected  with  a  good 
spring,  passes  along  the  wall  and  supplies  water  at 
48°,  for  cooling  the  milk.  A  little  below  this  is  a 
waste  pipe  for  carrying  away  the  water,  as  it  is  dis- 
charged from  the  pan.  This  apparatus,  with  the 
steam  pipes  overhead,  complete  the  furniture  of  the 
room.     Nothing  else  is  allowed  in  it. 

Upon  a  hand-car  which  passes  through  the  center 
of  the  room,  is  placed  a  platform  scale  with  a  weigh- 
ing can  on  it.  The  milk  is  brouglit  to  the  factory  in 
what  are  called  iron-clad  cans,  and  as  they  arrive  are 
elevated  by  a  hoisting  crane  and  dumped  into  the  can 
on  the  scale.  When  it  is  full,  the  car,  with  all  its 
burden,  is  rolled  along  the  track  between  the  pans, 
and  the  milk  is  spouted  into  the  pans  on  either  side  as 
desired.  The  twelve  pans  in  this  factory  with  their 
fixtures,  cost  $700.  An  eight  horse  power  boiler  sup- 
plies an  engine  with  steam  for  churning  and  sawing 
wood,  &c.,  and  for  heating  the  milk  room  when  neces- 
sary. This,  with  the  churns  and  butter  worker,  and 
a  few  other  small  things,  constitutes  the  apparatus, 
which,  with  the  factory  building,  cost  $3,800  and  is 
sufficient  to  accommodate  the  milk  of  300  cows. 


^68 


American  Dairying. 


Butter  Factories, 


26^ 


2 JO  American  Dairying. 

As  the  milk  is  delivered  to  the  factories,  it  is  dis- 
charged at  once  into  the.  pans,  and  as  soon  as  one  is 
filled,  the  water  is  let  on  and  the  milk  is  cooled  down 
to  60°  or  62^  As  the  water  which  supplies  the  factory 
is  usually  at  50"  or  below,  it  carries  off  the  heat  very 
rapidly,  so  that  the  milk  is  reduced  to  the  desired  tem- 
perature in  from  two  to  three  or  four  hours.  The 
manufacturers  all  seem  to  labor  under  the  impression 
that  the  animal  heat  (which  they  confound  Avith  animal 
odor)  should  he  got  out  of  the  milk  in  the  shortest 
time  possible. 

The  pan  with  cold  water  running  under,  or  around 
the  milk,  or  both,  does  this  to  their  satisfaction.  It  is 
a  little  too  efficient,  as  it  enables  them  to  cool  the  milk 
too  rapidly.  Except  allowing  the  milk  to  be  brought 
to  the  factory  in  closely  covered  cans,  without  pre- 
vious airing,  this  rapid  cooling  is  the  first  essential 
error,  connected  with  the  use  of  this  pan,  which  attracts 
our  attention.  It  takes  from  six  to  twelve  hours,  at 
ordinary  summer  temperatures,  for  the  animal  odor  to 
escape.  The  objection  to  sudden  cooling  is,  that  it 
condenses  the  odor  and  retains  it  in  the  milk  and 
cream.  In  nearly  every  factory  that  we  have  inspected, 
where  milk  was  rapidly  cooled,  we  have  detected  the 
cowy  flavor  in  the  butter.  This  not  only  injures  the 
taste  of  the  butter,  but  very  much  increases  its  ten- 
dency to  become  rancid.  Such  butter  loses  its  fresh 
flavor  so  easily  that  it  very  soon  becomes  stale,  unless 
kept  all  the  time  below  5  0°.  Even  then  it  has  much 
of  the  animal  flavor  and  soon  depreciates.  In  one 
factory  which  we  visited,  the  water  had  become  scanty 
and  warmed  up  to  60°.  In  consequence,  it  required 
over  six  hours  to  reduce  the  milk  to  62°.  The  butter 
made  after  the  water  failed  was  the  best  in  the  factory, 


Butter  Factories.  2j i 

as  the  manufacturer  could  readily  see  when  the  fact 
was  pointed  out. 

The  importance  of  distinguishing  between  animal 
odor  and  animal  heat,  and  of  getting  rid  of  the  odor 
instead  of  the  heat,  is  a  lesson  which  the  butter  makers 
of  the  country  generally  very  much  need  to  learn. 
That  the  cowy  odor  in  the  milk  can  be  condensed  and 
retained,  beeoming  a  flavor  instead  of  an  odor^  has  been 
too  much  overlooked.  But  it  is  no  fault  of  the  large 
or  rectangular  pan  that  the  cooling  is  too  rapidly 
done.  It  is  only  necessary  to  regulate  the  supply  of 
water  to  cool  in  any  desired  time. 

In  these  butter  factories  the  Jewett  pan  is  in  use, 
and  it  is  made  an  essential  point  with  the  manufac- 
turers to  keep  the  air  in  the  milk  room  at  70°,  while 
the  milk  in  the  pans  is  reduced  to  60°  or  62°.  This 
difference  between  the  surrounding  air  and  the  milk, 
has  some  advantages  and  some  disadvantages.  It 
favors  the  rapid  and  perfect  separation  of  the  cream. 
The  cooling  in  these  pans  begins  at  the  bottom  of  the 
pan  and  works  slowly  upward,  and  for  some  time  the 
cream  on  the  surface  and  top  of  the  milk  will  be 
warmer  than  the  milk  below.  As  the  cream  approaches 
the  surface  and  becomes  relatively  warmer  than  the 
milk  through  which  it  has  passed,  it  expands  and 
becomes  relatively  lighter,  thus  hastening  its  ascent, 
and  keeping  it  up  when  it  has  reached  the  surface. 
The  rising  of  the  cream  is  very  rapid  in  these  pans. 
It  was  apparently  all  up  in  24  hours. 

In  the  factories  where  the  air  was  10°  warmer  than 
the  milk,  it  was  very  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  cream 
being  exposed  to  a  higher  temperature  than  the  under 
side  of  it,  grew  thick,  sour,  and  stale,  while  the  under 
§ide   of    it   was    yet   sweet   and    thin,       After   being 


2y2  American  Dairying. 

skimmed  and  kept  ia  large  cream  pails,  12  to  24  hours, 
it  would  assume  a  more  uniform  condition,  but  it  was 
quite  apparent  that  less  difference  between  the  tem- 
perature of  the  milk  and  surrounding  air  would  make 
an  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  butter. 

The  rule  for  skimming  is  determined  by  the  thick- 
ness of  the  cream.  When  the  underside  of  it  gets  so 
thick  that  it  will  not  close  over  the  space  made  by 
passing  the  finger,  it  is  considered  fit  to  skim.  It  will 
then  not  run  through  the  skimmer.  If  the  milk  is 
kept  at  62'  it  gets  thick  in  T^d  hours,  if  the  air  in  the 
room  is  70°.  If  the  milk  is  kept  at  60°,  the  cream  will 
require  48  hours  to  become  thick.  This  rule,  so 
general  in  these  factories,  would  not  apply  where  the 
milk  is  set  in  deep  pails,  as  the  bottom  would  not 
become  thick  before  the  top  would  spoil,  nor  w^ould  it 
apply  where  the  milk  and  the  air  in  the  room  were 
of  the  same  temperature. 

Another  point  in  the  Franklin  county  factories,  is 
to  take  off  the  cream  with  the  smallest  possible  amount 
of  milk.  This  is  done  to  save  labor  in  churning, 
which  it  certainly  does,  but  it  occasions  a  loss  in  the 
quantity  of  butter,  and  also  in  quality.  The  upper 
part  of  the  milk,  especially  where,  as  in  the  Jewett 
pans,  it  is  five  or  six  inches  deep,  usually  contains 
butter  enough  to  pay  the  extra  labor  of  churning, 
especially  where  the  churning  is  done  by  power.  It 
pays  to  churn  one-quarter  of  the  bulk  of  the  milk. 
Some  have  the  impression  that  the  more  milk  there  is 
churned  with  the  cream,  the  more  cheesy  matter  there 
will  be  in  the  butter.  But  this  is  not  so,  because 
where  the  whole  milk  is  churned  there  is  no  more 
cheesy  flavor  than  when  the  cream  only  is  churned, 
and  where  there  is  a  considerable  quantity  of  liquid 


Butter  Factories,  ^/j 

in  the  churn,  the  butter,  when  it  comes,  is  not  so  much 
affected  by  the  friction  of  the  churning  as  when  there 
\i  but  little  liquid,  for  then  the  churn  crowds  more 
upon  the  butter  and  injures  the  grain. 

The  skimming  is  done  night  and  morning,  and  the 
cream  put  into  large  tin  pails,  in  which  it  stands  until 
ready  to  churn.  This  is  done  just  before  the  milk 
comes  in  to  make  room  for  the  new  milk.  As  soon 
as  the  cream  is  taken  off  the  sour  milk  is  drained  off 
through  a  tin  pipe  into  the  sour  milk  tank,  by  simply 
pulling  a  plug  which  stops  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the 
pan.  This  is  the  only  labor  required  for  disposing  of 
the  sour  milk.  The  milk  of  loo  cows  is  put  in  one 
pan,  and  in  a  factory  of  300  cows,  three  pans  are  filled 
each  night  and  morning,  and  of  course  there  are  three 
such  pans  to  skim  and  wash  every  night  and  morning. 
I  noted  the  time  it  took  two  women  to  skim,  run  off 
the  milk,  wash  and  scald  these  three  large  pans  in  one 
of  the  factories,  getting  them  ready  for  receiving  milk 
again,  and  they  did  it  easily  in  forty-five  minutes. 
This  is  a  very  great  reduction  of  labor  over  any  other 
method  of  setting  milk. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote  from  the  address 
of  Mr.  L.  D.  Paddock,  of  Malone,  delivered  before  the 
American  Dairymen's  Association  at  Rome,  Jan.,  1876, 
to  give  the  details  of  managing  the  cream,  churning, 
washing,  working,  salting,  and  packing  butter  in  the 
Franklin  butter  factories.  His  practice  accords  well 
with  what  I  saw  in  visiting  several  of  them  : 

"The  milk  is  allowed  to  stand  thirty-six  hours,  unless  it  is 
ready  to  be  skimmed  before  that  time.  It  must  be  skimmed  at 
just  the  right  time,  and  that  is,  as  a  general  rule,  as  soon  as  it 
becomes  sour.  It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  the  cream  cannot  be 
removed  at  that  time  without  loss.  In  that  case,  you  must  wait 
until  the  milk  thickens.     In  taking  off  the  cream  we  use  a  large 


2y^  American  Dairying. 

skimmer  about  eight  by  ten  inches  square,  with  a  handle,  and  a 
low,  broad,  four-quart  pan  or  dipper  with  a  handle.  This  rests  on 
the  edge  of  the  pan,  and  when  full  is  emptied  ii.to  tin  pails  holding 
about  four  gallons,  and  the  cream  is  then  carried  into  the  cellar 
and  set  in  a  vat  of  cold  water,  where  it  is  kept  at  the  right  tem- 
perature by  means  of  ice  put  into  the  water  from  time  to  time  as 
occasion  requires.  This  is  in  case  your  cellar  is  not  cool  enough. 
The  sour  milk  is  emptied  from  the  pans  through  pipes  leading  to 
the  outside  of  the  building  into  a  large  vat,  from  which  it  is  taken 
away  by  the  patrons.  Cream  taken  off  to-day,  for  instance,  is 
churned  to-morrow  morning.  We  use  two  sixty  gallon  barrel 
churns,  and  put  about  twenty  gallons  of  cream  into  each  churn. 
If  you  get  in  too  much,  it  takes  a  long  time  for  the  butter  to  come. 
The  churns  are  run  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty  revolutions  a  minute. 
We  start  the  churning  early  in  the  morning,  when  it  is  cool,  and 
before  the  milk  begins  to  arrive.  It  usually  takes  about  an  hour 
to  do  the  churning,  but  sometimes  longer.  As  soon  as  the  butler 
is  come  in  a  granulated  state,  we  stop  churning,  and  draw  off  the 
buttermilk  through  a  sieve,  so  as  not  to  waste  any  butter,  then 
pour  two  or  three  pailfuls  of  water  into  the  churn,  and  give  it  a 
few  revolutions  with  the  hand  so  as  to  rinse  it  well,  then  draw  off 
as  before,  and  repeat  the  operation  until  the  buttermilk  is  well 
rinsed  out  of  the  butter.  The  butter  is  then  taken  from  the  churn 
and  put  into  large,  round,  wooden  trays,  and  carried  into  the  cel- 
lar, where  it  is  weighed  and  then  spread  out  thin  on  the  butter 
worker,  and  salted  at  the  rate  of  one  ounce  to  the  pound — unless 
otherwise  ordered.  Some  of  our  customers  want  but  half  an 
ounce  to  the  pound,  and  some  more  than  an  ounce.  We  use 
either  the  best  Onondaga  factory  filled  dairy  salt,  or  the  Ashton. 
Most  of  the  factories  I  believe  work  their  butter  but  once  and  pack 
as  soon  as  they  think  it  worked  enough.  At  our  factory  the  but- 
ter is  all  worked  twice.  The  first  time  just  enough  to  work  the 
salt  in  well.  It  is  then  put  back  into  the  trays,  covered  with  a 
clean  cloth,  and  set  away  until  the  next  morning,  when  it  is 
worked  again,  taking  care  not  to  let  your  lever  slip  or  slide  on  the 
butter,  or  to  in  any  way  injure  the  grain  of  it.  Then,  as  soon  as  we 
think  the  buttermilk  all  out,  it  is  packed.  We  generally  pack  in 
sixty-pound  packages,  and  the  very  best  that  can  be  obtained.  It 
is  then  covered  with  a  cloth,  and  that  is  covered  with  salt  about 
half  an  inch  in  thickness.     If  the  butter  is  to  be  kept  long,  the 


Butter  Factories.  275 

salt  should  be  moistened  just  enough  to  make  a  paste,  and  then 
pressed  down  tight  all  around.  Put  on  a  tight  fitting  cover,  and 
)'Our  butter  is  ready  for  market. 

*'It  usually  takes,  on  an  average,  about  twenty-three  pounds  of 
milk  for  a  pound  of  butter.  That  depends,  however,  very  much 
on  whether  you  are  able  to  control  the  temperature  of  your  milk. 
Then  your  feed  has  something  to  do  with  the  quantity  of  the  milk. 
Some  seasons  it  takes  more  pounds  of  milk  for  a  pound  of  butter 
than  others." 

There  are  now  between  twenty  and  thirty  of  these 
factories  in  operation  in  the  vicinity  of  Malone,  the 
county  seat  of  Franklin  county.  They  have  proved  a 
success  in  many  respects.  I  visited  several  of  them 
in  September,  1873,  and  though  the  butter  in  all  was 
good,  it  is  but  justice  to  truth  and  my  readers  to  say, 
that  none  of  it  was  "gilt  edged." 

Some  of  the  little  defects  which  have  prevented  their 
reaching  the  very  highest  standard  have  already  been 
pointed  out.  One  of  them  was  cooling  the  milk  before 
the  animal  odor  could  escape,  thus  condensing  it  in 
the  milk,  whence  it  mingled  with  the  butter,  giving  it 
a  peculiar  stale  flavor  and  hurrying  it  on  to  rancidity. 
Another  defect  related  to  the  packing.  First,  it  was 
nearly  all  packed  with  once  working,  which  gave  to 
the  texture  a  lack  of  solidity.  Second,  it  was  nearly 
all  packed  in  spruce  tubs,  which  were  imperfectly  pre- 
pared. Instead  of  removing  the  sap  and  filling  the 
pores  of  the  wood  by  soaking  with  boiling  hot  brine, 
they  were  soaked  either  with  water  or  cold  brine, 
which  left  so  much  sap  in  the  wood  that  the  butter 
next  to  the  wood  soon  became  affected.  The  covers 
of  the  tubs  were  not  cleansed  at  all,  and  being  gener- 
ally made  of  basswood,  soon  imparted  their  odor  to 
the  top  of  the.  butter.  This  defect  was  very  distinct. 
I  detected  the  scent  of  the  basswood,  in  one  instance. 


2^6  Anierican  Dairying. 

in  the  top  of  a  tub  of  butter  which  had  been  covered 
but  a  few  hours.  Basswood  is  entirely  unfit  for  use 
about  butter. 

A  difference  of  ten  degrees  between  the  air  in  a 
room  and  that  of  milk  standing  in  it,  the  milk  being 
60°  and  the  air  70°,  is  regarded  as  quite  unfavorable 
for  producing  the  finest  quality  of  butter  from  such 
milk,  or  for  securing  its  greatest  longevity.  This  may 
require  a  little  explanation.  For  well  known  reasons, 
a  pitcher  of  ice  water  in  a  hot  day  condenses  water 
upon  its  outside,  and  because  the  w^ater  inside  of  it  is  as 
cold  as  the  outside  of  the  pitcher,  the  condensation 
is  as  rapid  on  the  surface  of  the  water  within  it,  as 
upon  the  outside,  though  we  do  not  see  it  because 
it  mingles  at  once  with  the  water.  A  vessel  con- 
taining milk  much  colder  than  the  air  in  which  it 
stands,  also  condenses  water  upon  its  sides,  and  like- 
wise upon  the  surface  of  the  milk  or  cream  in  it.  We 
often  see  this  in  butter  factories  and  creameries.  The 
vessels  containing  the  cold  milk  are  seen  dripping 
with  condensations ;  and  that  they  condense  equally 
upon  the  creani  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  top 
of  the  cream  is  kept  moist  and  soft  not  only,  but  often 
when  the  cream  becomes  thick,  it  is  covered  with  a 
coat  of  water,  giving   its  surface  a  glossy  appearance. 

When  the  atmosphere  gives  up  its  moisture  to  the 
sides  of  a  pitcher,  or  to  the  cold  water  within  it,  it  gives 
up  also  its  impurities— its  foul  gases,  odors  and  organic 
germs.  It  does  this  to  such  an  extent  as  to  affect  the 
taste  and  wholesomeness  of  the  water  in  the  pitcher  in  a 
few  hours.  Every  one  who  has  tasted  ice  water  when 
it  has  become  warm,  will  remember  how  disagreeable  it 
tastes.  The  water  which  condenses  on  the  cream  is 
loaded  with  impurities,  and  affects  it  the  same  as  the 


Butter  Factories,  zyj 

water  in  the  pitcher,  injuring  the  flavor  and  the  keep- 
ing quality  of  the  butter  made  from  it. 

Dairymen  often  notice  this  moisture  on  their  cream 
and  think  it  a  fortunate  circumstance,  because  it  keeps 
the  top  of  the  cream  from  drying  up,  and  makes  it 
soft.  No  mistake  could  be  greater.  The  impurities 
which  attach  to  the  cream  from  water  thus  condensed 
upon  it,  are  fatal  to  its  well  being.  A  piece  of  meat 
chilled  with  ice  while  exposed  to  warm  air,  gathers 
moisture  by  condensation,  the  same  as  the  sides  of  a 
cold  pitcher,  and  as  it  does  so,  the  microscopic  germs 
deposited  with  the  moisture  from  the  air,  fasten  upon 
it  in  such  numbers  as  to  ensure  its  speedy  decay. 
Meat  thus  treated  cannot  be  preserved  without  heating 
it  hot  enough  to  kill  the  germs  which  occasion  the 
infection.  Salt  will  not  save  it.  So  with  butter  made 
from  cream  infected  by  atmospheric  condensations. 
The  minute  germs  which  lodge  upon  the  cream  fasten 
to  it,  and  become  mingled  with  the  butter  made  from 
it  and  ensure  premature  decay,  no  matter  how  skill- 
fully it  may  be  treated  in  other  r^pects. 

Another  circumstance  operated  unfavorably  upon 
the  flavor  of  the  butter  where  it  had  stood  long  in  the 
cellars.  Allusion  is  made  to  the  practice  of  covering 
the  top  of  the  butter  with  a  cloth  and  dry  salt.  This 
was  very  much  better  than  not  to  cover  it  with  any- 
thing. But  to  prevent  butter  from  growing  stale  by 
standing  it  should  be  kept  from  contact  with  the 
air.  Water  enough  turned  on  to  the  salt  to  make  a 
brine  that  would  fairly  cover  the  surface  of  the  butter 
would  have  done  this  and  kept  the  top  of  the  butter 
sound. 

These  little  defects  are  not  noticed  with  any  desire 
to  criticise  or  find  fault  with  this  new  system  of  butter 


278  American  Dairying, 

making.  They  are  pointed  out  to  prevent  others  from 
falling  into  the  same  errors,  and  with  the  hope  that 
they  will  be  obviated  in  the  factories  where  they  were 
noticed. 

The  large  pan  system  has  proved  one  of  great  advan- 
tage to  the  location  it  occupies,  and  its  influence  is  by 
no  means  confined  to  Franklin  county.  It  has  reduced 
the  quantity  of  milk  required  to  make  a  pound  of 
butter  to  a  lower  figure  than  any  other.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  milk  which  is  there  converted  into  butter 
is  from  native  stock,  and  the  average  amount  for  the 
time  the  factories  run,  which  is  four  or  five  months  in 
the  middle  of  the  season,  when  milk  is  the  poorest,  is 
only  about  twenty-three  pounds.  Jersey  milk  might 
require  less.  But  I  have  met  wnth  no  instance  where,  on 
so  large  a  scale  and  for  so  long  a  time,  an  equal  result 
has  been  reached.  The  butter,  if  not  the  very  finest 
quality  that  it  is  possible  to  make,  is  certainly  excellent, 
and  commands  a  high  price  and  ready  sale  in  the  large 
markets  of  the  country,  running  from  five  to  ten  cents 
above  the  average  ^f  dairy  butter.  The  system  of 
factory  butter  making  with  the  use  of  large  pans,  is 
yet  in  its  infancy,  and  great  advances  may  safely  be 
predicted  of  it  as  time  goes  along.  One  of  the  good 
things  it  has  accomplished  is  to  economize  labor  in  the 
manufacture  of  butter,  and  to  lift  a  heavy  burden  from 
the  women  folk  in  the  dairy  districts.  It  is  worthy  of 
adoption  for  this  alone ;  but  besides  this,  it  pays.  The 
quantity  of  milk  for  a  pound  of  butter,  and  the  cost  of 
manufacture,  have  been  so  much  reduced  as  to  turn 
the  milk  to  greater  profit  than  when  converted  into 
cheese. 

Butter  factories,  as  a  rule,  make  better  butter  than  the 
average  private  dairies,  but  they  are  not  yet  so  far  per- 


Creameries.  2yg 

fected  as  to  equal  the  best  private  make.  Their  goods 
will  not  keep  as  well,  nor  are  they  so  fine,  in  any  of 
the  associated  dairies  I  have  seen,  as  those  met  wath 
in  private  establishments.  There  are  some  obvious 
reasons  for  this  failure  in  factories  to  reach  the  highest 
attainable  perfection.  First,  the  milk,  as  now  usually 
conveyed,  can  hardly  be  transported  the  distance 
generally  necessary  to  reach  a  factory,  without  injuring 
it  somewhat  for  butter  making.  Second,  the  mass  of 
milk  being  made  up  of  different  dairies  that  are  liable 
to  differ  in  quality,  some  of  them  will  not  be  as  good 
as  the  best ;  and,  third,  it  is  doubtful  w^hether  the  com- 
bination of  circumstances  at  any  butter  factory  are  yet 
quite  equal  to  the  best  private  dairies,  though  the 
average  of  the  former  is  very  much  above  the  average 
of  the  latter. 


CREAMERIES. 


Butter  factories  and  creameries  differ  in  this  :  the 
former  make  only  butter ;  the  latter  both  butter  and 
cheese.  The  buildings  and  apparatus  for  the  two 
purposes  are  necessarily  different.  In  creameries,  the 
apparatus  for  butter  making  and  cheese  making  must 
be  combined. 

Creameries  are  carried  on  with  two  distinct  pur- 
poses, or  modes  of  operating.  The  design  of  one  class 
of  creameries  is  to  take  off  all  the  cream  that  can 
be  obtained  without  actually  souring  the  milk,   and 


28o 


American  Dairy ni^ 


< 

o 


o 


Creameries. 


281 


282  American  Dairying. 

making  from  the  stale  milk  an  inferiorquality  of  skim 
cheese,  with  the  hope  of  getting  better  returns  than 
from  feeding  it  to  calves  or  pigs.  In  the  other  class 
of  creameries,  the  purpose  is  to  take  off  no  more 
cream  than  will  allow  of  making  a  good  or  at  least  a 
fair  article  of  cheese  from  the  skim  milk. 

Creameries  are  constructed  in  a  great  variety  of 
forms,  which  are  made  to  vary  according  to  the  par- 
ticular location  and  the  fancy  or  different  purposes  of 
the  builders.  Perhaps  no  single  plan,  however  well 
arranged,  would  be  best  under  all  circumstances.  Yet 
there  are  certain  requirements  which  run  through 
them  all,  ^and  which  may  be  described  in  general 
terms,  and  contained  in  one  comprehensive  structure. 

Most  of  the  creameries  are  conducted  on  the  "  pail 
and  pool"  system.  The  following  plans  are  adapted 
to  this  mode  of  raising  cream.  The  system,  however, 
must  soon  give  way  to  the  better  and  more  labor- 
saving  practice  of  setting  milk  in  large  pans,  elevated 
so  as  to  spout  the  milk  into  the  manufacturing  vats 
without  handling,  or  to  the  still  more  economical  mode 
of  setting  the  milk  in  the  manufacturing  vats  them- 
selves, thus  saving  all  handling. 

The  first  plan  (figures  51  and  52)  is  that  known  as 
the  Elm  Tree  Creamery,  located  at  Triangle,  N.  Y.  It 
is  28x94  feet,  two  stories  high,  and  eight  feet  between 
floors. 

On  the  ground  floor  the  letters  indicate  as  follows  : 

A,  Manufacturing  room,  28x28  feet ;  B,  Curing  room,  32x28 
feet;  C,  Pool  room,  16x18  feet  ;  D,  Kitchen,  16x11  feet;  E,  Sit- 
ting room,  15x14  feet ;  F,  Engine  room,  10x10  ;  G,  Bedroom,  10x7  ; 
H,  Pantry,  6x7. 

Second  fioor — V,  Curing  room,  28x76  feet ;  R,  Bedroom,  7x13  ; 
G,  Bedroom,  11x15 


Creameries. 


2S3 


The  second  plan  (fig.  53)  is  that  of  the  Harrison 
Creamery,  located  at  Sinith- 
ville,  N.  Y.  It  has  the  same 
width  as  the  previous  one^ 
but  is  ten  feet  shorter,  be- 
ing 28x84  feet,  and  the  size 
and  location  of  the  rooms  are 
a  little  changed.  Both  are 
calculated  for  the  family  of 
the  manufacturer  to  live  in 
one  end  of  the  creamery 
The  second  story  is  similar 
to  that  in  the  first  plan,  12 
feet  of  one  end  being  occu- 
pied with  bedrooms,  and  the 
remainder  as  a  curing  room 
which  is  72x28  feet. 

Each  of  these  creamer- 
ies has,  as  every  creamery 
should,  a  good  cellar  beneath 
it  for  storing  butter,  and  each 
has  an  eight -horse  power 
boiler  and  a  small  engine 
for  churning  and  doing  other 
work,  things  very  necessary 
in  equipping  a  creamery. 
Unless  supplied  with  a  plen- 
ty of  cold  spring  water,  an 
ice  house    is   also    a    neces- 

j  i.„      „      ^A    try,  6x7  feet  ;  C,  Bedroom,  7x8  fent  ; 

sary  appendage   to    a   good  i^y'sutLg room;  14x11  feet;  e,  En- 

r-rp-am^r-jr  Ac     fh^rf^      _p,„  ^4-   gine  room,  8xio  feet ;  F,  Pool  room, 

creamery.      -as   mere    must  ^^^^g  ^^^^ .  q^  curing  room,  28x28 

always   be  a    constant    waste   feet  ;  H,  Manufacturing  room. 

of  water  running  away  from  a  creamery,  and  more  or 
less  wash  and  dirty  water  to  be  disposed  of,  a  high 


J-'K-  53- 
A,  Kitchen,  14x15  feet  ;    B,  Pan- 
;t;  C 
ing 


28^1.  American  Dairying. 

and  dry  location,  which  will  afford  pure  air  and  good 
drainage,  should  always  be  selected,  if  possible.  It  is 
very  essential  to  the  production  of  first  class  butter 
that  the  air  in  and  about  the  buildings  should  be  dry 
and  free  from  every  taint  or  musty  smell.  The  build- 
ing for  a  creamery  need  not  necessarily  be  ornamen- 
tal, though  a  tasty  neatness  should  always  enter  into 
its  structure,  but  it  should  be  substantial  and  secure 
against  the  fluctuations  of  outside  temperature. 

The  mode  of  building  adopted  in  the  butter  factory 
just  described  is  a  good  one,  and  in  the  end,  as  cheap  as 
any.  The  walls  should  at  any  rate  be  double.  When 
coolers  are  used,  the  pools  to  set  them  in  are  generally 
made  of  plank,  and  sometimes  of  cement;  but,  what- 
ever they  are  made  of,  they  should  be  set  high  enough 
so  that  the  water  can  be  drained  from  them  at  any  time 
desired,  and  should  consist  of  four  or  five,  the  latter 
number  is  preferred,  separate  apartments.  When 
made  of  wood,  the  plank  are  liable  to  get  slimy  and 
the  top  musty,  and  require  that  the  water  should  be 
drawn  off  and  the  vat  scrubbed  with  something  like  a 
splint  or  wire  broom,  and  then  rinsed  with  boiling 
water  or  scalded  with  a  jet  of  steam.  Everything 
about  the  pools  must  be  kept  perfectly  fresh  and  sweet, 
or  the  butter  will  imbibe  the  scent,  if  any  is  allowed  to 
exist. 

An  incident,  which  occurred  in  one  of  the  very  best 
creameries,  will  illustrate  :  The  water  in  the  pool 
where  the  cream  was  kept,  and  which  was  alternately 
warmed  and  cooled  to  temper  the  cream,  was  allowed 
on  one  occasion  to  remain  unchanged  until  it  began 
to  smell  a  little  old;  it  was  but  a  slight  change  from 
its  fresh  state,  but  all  the  butter  that  was  made  from 
the  cream  standing  in  the  water  at  the  time,  assumed 


Creameries.  28^ 

the  same  smell  and  taste,  and  became  permanently 
injured.     Cleansing  the  pool  removed  the  difficulty. 

The  pool  is  divided  into  a  number  of  apartments,  so 
that  there  may  be  one  for  holding  cream,  which  can 
have  its  temperature  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure,  to 
keep  the  cream  cold  when  there  is  occasion  to  keep  it, 
or  to  warm  it  to  temper  it  for  churning,  and  others  so 
that  each  mess  may  be  set  in  a  separate  apartment. 
This  is  necessary  to  avoid  warming  up  the  water  and 
milk  by  the  introduction  of  a  warm  mess  into  an 
apartment  with  one  already  cooled,  which  would  have 
an  injurious  effect  on  the  latter.  By  having  four  or 
five  apartments  in  the  pool  for  milk,  each  mess  is  set 
by  itself,  and  remains  undisturbed  in  temperature  until 
ready  to  skim. 

The  cooling  may  be  more  or  less  rapid,  as  may  be 
desired,  according  to  the  volume  of  the  stream  of  cold 
water  running  into  the  apartment  of  the  pool  in  which 
the  warm  milk  is  set.  If  a  small  stream  of  water  is 
let  in,  the  warmed  water  will  be  very  gradually  dis- 
placed and  the  cooling  slowly  done.  The  process  is 
hastened  by  admitting  a  larger  stream. 

The  effects  which  follow  the  fast  and  slow  cooling 
are  unlike.  The  milk  will  keep  sweet  longer  with  the 
rapid  cooling,  but  the  cream  will  rise  more  perfectly, 
and  the  butter  has  been  found  to  be  better,  when  the 
cooling  is  done  more  slowly.  The  deep  cans,  nineteen 
inches  high  and  about  eight  inches  in  diameter,  before 
described,  are  used  for  setting  milk. 

The  practice  at  one  of  the  best  creameries  I  know  of 
is  as  follows  :  The  milk  upon  arrival  is  weighed  and 
emptied  into  a  receiving  vat.  A  compartment  of  the 
pool  is  filled  with  fresh  water,  which  is  at  50°.  Coolers 
are  filled  from  the  receiving  vat  as  milk  arrives,  and 


286  American  Dairying. 

placed  in  the  pool.  Water  enough  is  turned  on  to  cool 
the  milk  down  to  60°  in  ten  to  twelve  hours.  In  warm 
weather,  it  is  skimmed  after  standing  thirty-six  and 
forty-eight  hours.  The  cream,  in  coolers,  is  set  in  a 
pool  at  65°,  where  it  stands  twelve  hours  and  becomes 
slightly  sour.  It  is  then  churned  in  one  and  a  half 
barrel  dash  churns,  worked  by  steam.  In  some  fac- 
tories»  a  cream  vat  is  used.  It  is  constructed  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  common  cheese  vat,  and  is 
designed  as  a  storage  for  cream,  in  which  it  can  be 
thoroughly  mixed  and  warmed  or  cooled,  as  desired, 
by  steam  or  water  connections. 

The  skimming  in  this  creamery  is  the  same  as  in  all 
others  when  coolers  are  used.  It  is  done  by  removing 
the  cream  with  a  conical  cup,  made  of  tin,  with  the 
pointed  end  down,  and  used  with  a  perpendicular  han- 
dle. When  the  milk  is  ready  to  skim,  the  pointed  end 
of  the  cup  is  pressed  down  into  the  cooler  until  the 
cream,  which  is  always  sufficiently  soft  to  flow,  will  run 
over  the  top  of  the  cup  and  fill  it.  It  is  then  lifted  out 
and  emptied,  and  the  process  repeated  until  the  cream 
is  all  dipped  off.  As  the  milk  and  cream  rise  in  the 
cooler,  when  the  conical  cup  is  pressed  down  into  it, 
they  become  somewhat  mixed,  and  a  perfect  separation 
of  the  cream  is  not  made  without  taking  in  consider- 
able milk. 

In  churning,  in  the  creamery  referred  to,  as  much 
cream  is  put  into  each  churn  as  can  be,  and  allow  the 
dash,  in  its  upward  stroke,  to  rise  above  it.  The 
dashers  are  made  large,  so  as  to  nearly  fill  the  churn 
at  the  top  and  bottom  ;  and  their  motion  is  at  first 
slow,  about  twenty  strokes  per  minute,  until  the  cream 
is  well  mixed,  when  the  motion  is  increased  to  45  or 
50  strokes.     The  temperature  observed  in  churning  is 


Creameries.  28J 

58°  to  60°,  the  cream  being  cooled  down  before  it  is 
removed  from  the  pool.  When  the  butter  begins  to 
come,  the  motion  is  again  retarded,  and  cold  water 
enough  is  put  in  to  make  the  contents  of  the  churn 
rise  a  little  above  the  dash,  in  its  upward  motion, 
and  reduce  the  temperature  below  58°.  The  butter 
comes  in  a  granulated  form.  The  buttermilk  is  all 
washed  out  of  the  butter,  and  it  receives  no  working, 
except  to  press  it  together,  after  the  salt  has  been  mixed 
with  the  granules.  It  is  generally  gathered  in  the  churn 
in  a  mass,  and  washed  and  worked  in  the  usual  way. 

In  this  creamery,  through  all  the  warm  weather,  the 
milk  stands  -^d  and  48  hours  before  skimming.  The 
milk  is  then  sweet  and  is  made  into  skim  cheese.  The 
cream  is  soured  a  little  before  churning,  and  the  but- 
termilk of  course  goes  out  with  the  whey,  which  is 
fed  to  pigs  and  calves. 

It  is  the  general  practice  in  creameries  which  use 
cooler  pails  and  pools,  to  get  all  the  butter  that  can 
be  obtained  from  the  milk  and  keep  it  sweet  for  cheese 
making.  Some  churn  the  cream  while  sweet,  and  put 
the  buttermilk  in  with  the  skimmilk  to  make  into 
cheese,  others  sour  it  and  think  the  increased  quantity 
of  butter  they  get  by  souring  the  cream  pays  better 
than  the  buttermilk  does  in  cheese.  In  the  Speedsville 
creamery,  it  was  recently  found,  by  repeated  trials,  that 
when  the  cream  was  churned  sweet  it  took  38  pounds 
of  milk  for  a  pound  of  butter,  and  when  churned  sour 
it  required  but  28  pounds  for  one  of  butter.  This  rate 
is  a  good  expression  of  the  difference  in  results  of 
churning  sweet  or  sour,  the  cream  from  the  milk  of 
Native,  Shorthorn  or  Ayrshire  cows. 

Some  set  the  milk  24  and  t,^  hours  in  hot  weather, 
and  occasionally  it  is  set    12   and   24  hours,  but  the 


288  American  Dairying, 

great  majority  set  T^d  and  48  in  summer,  and  48  and  60 
in  cool  weather.  It  is  the  general  practice  in  cream- 
eries to  pack  in  return  pails  or  tubs  for  immediate 
market,  till  the  cows  become  fully  accustomed  to  grass, 
and  after  that  to  pack  in  firkins  for  the  fall  market. 
But  sometimes  it  is  sent  off  every  week  all  the  season. 
In  these  days  of  close  figures  upon  dairy  products, 
when  the  cost  of  production  and  manufacture  run  so 
nearly  parallel  to  the  wholesale  price,  economy  at 
every  point  must  be  observed.  The  labor  of  an  extra 
hand  in  a  factory  may  decide  the  question  whether  it 
shall  be  run  or  closed  up.  Economy  of  labor  in  man- 
ufacturing is  the  most  prominent  item  in  the  difference 
between  making  the  milk  into  butter  or  cheese  at  the 
farm,  or  in  factories.  For  this  purpose,  the  use  of 
large  pans,  or  more  properly  vats,  for  setting  milk  in 
creamery  practice,  has  of  late,  been  availed  of  with 
good  effect.  In  the  economy  of  labor  they  sustain 
about  the  same  relation  to  cooler  pails,  that  the  pails 
do  to  the  small  round  pans.  The  vats  are  made  large 
enough  to  hold  one  milking  of  100  cows  or  more,  and 
are  elevated  so  that  the  skimmilk  can  be  spouted  to 
the  manufacturing  rats.  The  labor  saved  by  this 
method  of  setting  is  very  great.  The  skimming  and 
washing  of  the  vats  for  a  given  quantity  of  milk  is 
estimated  at  one-eighth  that  required  for  coolers,  and 
the  ratio  of  labor  between  handling  the  coolers  and 
carrying  and  turning  them  into  the  manufacturing 
vats  by  hand,  and  spouting  the  milk  in,  is  about  as 
twenty  to  one.  A  very  great  amount  of  labor  is  also 
saved  by  spouting  milk  from  the  receiving  can  to  the 
setting  vats,  in  place  of  filling  coolers  and  setting 
them  one  by  one  in  the  pool.  In  this  improvement, 
the  American  Dairy  and  Commercial  Company  have 


Creameries.  28^ 

taken  the  lead.  Their  creamery  at  Mill  Ridge,  Oneida 
county,  N.  Y.,  was  arranged  last  year  for  the  use  of 
cooling  vats,  which  worked  so  well,  that  they  have 
this  year  been  introduced  in  several  other  factories 
belonging  to  the  company. 

In  the  Mill  Ridge  creamery  the  floor  of  the  setting 
room,  which  is  adjacent  to  the  manufacturing  room,  is 
raised  above  the  latter,  and  vats  similar  to  manufac- 
turing vats  are  used  for  setting  the  milk.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  height  of  the  floors  is  sufficient  to  carry 
the  milk  from  one  set  of  vats  to  the  other.  In  their 
creamery  at  McLean,  Tompkins  county,  N.  Y.,  one  of 
the  best  conducted  creameries  in  the  United  States, 
the  manufacturing  and  setting  rooms  are  on  the  same 
floor.  The  milk  is  set  in  large  Jewett  pans,  which  are 
elevated  high  enough  to  admit  of  running  milk  from 
them  to  the  manufacturing  vats,  which  are  set  as  low  as 
they  will  bear  for  that  purpose.  The  process  at  this 
creamery  is  very  satisfactory,  and  the  butter  turned 
out  is  of  very  fine  quality,  and  sells  at  the  very  top 
of  quotations.  From  the  early  grass-fed  milk  of  the 
present  season,  one  pound  of  butter  was  made  from 
27  pounds  of  milk,  and  a  little  later,  one  pound  from 
26  of  milk.  The  cream  is  churned  sour.  In  other 
factories,  other  styles  of  large  pans  are  being  used  in 
the  place  of  coolers  with  a  degree  of  satisfaction 
which  indicates  that  the  latter  must  soon  give  place  to 
the  labor-saving  apparatus.  Messrs.  Whitman  &  Bur- 
rell,  of  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  their  Fink's  Basin 
creamery,  economize  still  further,  by  using  the  manu- 
facturing vats  for  setting  milk.  The  new  milk,  as 
received  each  night  and  morning,  is  run  directly  from 
the  weighing  can  into  a  vat,  and  after  being  heated  to 
135*  by  turning  a  jet  of  steam  directly  into  the  milk, 


2 go  American  Dairying. 

it  is  cooled  down  by  passing  cold  spring  water  through 
a  coil  of  tin  pipe  suspended  in  the  milk  just  below  the 
depth  expected  to  be  occupied  by  the  cream.  When 
tlie  milk  has  fallen  to  the  temperature  of  the  room  or 
a  little  below,  so  that  evaporation  is  checked  and  the 
gas  ai^^  odor  has  escaped,  a  close  fitting  cover,  vir- 
tually air  tight,  is  set  down  upon  the  vat,  and  the  cool- 
ing goes  on  till  the  milk  drops  to  the  temperature  of 
the  water  passing  through  the  coil,  which  is  below  50°. 
The  cover,  which  is  inexpensive,  serves  the  double 
purpose  of  economizing  the  refrigerating  agent,  and 
protecting  the  milk  from  any  contamination  while  a 
vatful  is  being  made  into  cheese  by  the  side  of  it.  In 
a  recent  examination,  the  cream  as  compared  with 
that  raised  in  open  vats  was  superior.  Its  flavor  was 
remarkably  pure,  sweet  and  delicious,  and  was  entirely 
free  from  the  slightly  bitter  taste  which  the  top  of 
cream  acquires  by  being  exposed  to  the  air.  The  but- 
ter it  made  was  strictly  gilt  edged,  and  sold,  when  sent 
to  New  York  in  return  pails,  for  30  cents,  when  Or- 
ange county  was  quoted  at  25  cents.  The  cream  was 
churned  sweet,  and  three  pounds  of  butter  made  from 
100  pounds  of  milk,  and  the  buttermilk  used  with  the 
skimmilk  in  making  cheese  on  the  Ellsworth  plan. 
The  churning  w^as  done  with  a  Blanchard  churn,  and 
the  butter  gathered  in  the  granular  form.  I  note  this 
fact  because  some  butter  makers  have  supposed  that 
butter  could  not  be  granulated  in  that  churn. 

In  the  new  creamery  practice  adopted  by  J.  T.  Ells- 
worth, of  Barre,  Mass.,  the  milk  is  received  into  large 
pans  of  the  variety  known  as  the  Empire  State  pan. 
By  the  aid  of  a  heater  in  an  adjacent  room  and  a  coil 
of  pipe,  hot  water  is  run  under  the  milk  and  kept  cir- 
culating till  the  milk  is  raised  to  130  to  140  degrees. 


Creameries.  2gt 

The  hot  water  is  then  changed  for  cold,  and  kept  run- 
ning till  the  milk  is  reduced  to  65°  and  then  left  for  the 
cream  to  rise.  As  the  milk  is  to  be  made  into  cheese, 
it  is  skimmed  and  churned  while  sweet,  the  butter 
gathered  in  the  granular  form  and  otherwise  treated 
in  the  usual  way.  It  has  proved  to  be  very  uniform 
and  very  nice,  having  sold  the  year  round  for  45  cents 
a  pound  in  the  city  of  Worcester.  I  have  examined 
Mr.  Ellsworth's  butter,  and  found  it  to  have  a  remark- 
ably pure  and  clean  flavor,  and  to  be  in  every  respect 
very  fine. 

WINTER  BUTTER  MAKING. 

Within  a  few  years  past,  a  practice  of  making  butter 
in  the  winter  instead  of  summer  has  been  gaining 
ground.  This  is  more  especially  true  in  some  of  the 
western  states.  The  cows  come  in  during  the  fall 
months,  so  as  to  be  freshly  in  milk  through  the  winter, 
and  go  dry  during  the  heat  and  drought  of  the  summer. 
Cows  in  milk  cannot  stand  the  cold  as  well  as  when 
dry,  and  therefore  need  very  comfortable  quarters,  but 
it  is  easier  to  protect  them  against  the  cold  of  winter, 
than  against  the  heat  and  drought  and  flies  of  summer. 
The  store  of  winter  food  must  be  adapted  to  the  situa- 
tion. Stale  fodder,  such  as  late  cut  hay  and  ripe  corn- 
stalks, will  not  answer.  The  food  for  profitable  win- 
ter dairying  must  be  early  cut,  of  whatever  kind  it 
may  be — grass,  clover,  fodder  corn,  millet,  oats,  oats 
and  pease — if  cut  not  later  than  in  blossom,  produce 
nice  milk  and  a  very  liberal  flow.  In  winter  dairying, 
grain  can  be  fed  to  better  advantage  than  when  the 
cows  are  on  grass,  and  roots  can  be  made  very  ser- 
viceable. 


2g2  America7i  Dairyi7ig. 

The  yield  of  milk  will  not  be  quite  as  large  in  the 
winter  as  in  the  summer,  but  it  will  be  richer,  making 
the  annual  yield  of  butter  just  about  the  same  in  one 
case  as  the  other. 

If  proper  provision  is  made  for  taking  care  of  the 
stock  and  the  milk,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  make  butter 
in  the  winter  as  in  the  summer,  and  in  fact,  it  is  less 
difficult  to  maintain  a  proper  temperature  in  the  dairy 
in  the  winter  than  in  the  summer,  and  it  has  the 
advantage  of  furnishing  fresh  butter  at  a  time  when  it 
usually  brings  the  highest  price.  Cows  for  winter  use 
are  generally  dried  off  about  the  first  of  July,  so  as  to 
go  dry  in  July  and  August.  But  few  dairymen  in  any 
part  of  the  country  follow  this  practice  wholly,  but 
spread  the  time  of  manufacturing  over  the  whole  year, 
and  have  cows  coming  in  during  the  fall,  winter  and 
spring.  Often  only  one-third  of  the  butter  product 
of  J:he  year  is  made  in  the  winter  season.  The  practice 
is  better  adapted  to  warm  climates  than  cold  ones,  and 
better  in  localities  subject  to  drought  and  scanty  water 
in  summer  than  in  those  which  are  not. 

WHEY  BUTTER. 

A  few  years  ago,  considerable  quantities  of  whey 
butter  were  made,  and  often  formed  no  inconsiderable 
item  in  the  revenues  of  the  factory.  Latterly,  the 
more  careful  and  improved  methods  of  working,  and 
the  largely  increased  practice  of  skimming,  have  very 
much  reduced  the  production  of  whey  butter.  But  it 
is  still  made  in  some  localities,  and  a  few  words  in 
regard  to  its  manufacture  may  be  appropriate. 

Two  methods  are  adopted  in  raising  the  cream.  One 
is  to  have  vats,  similar  to  manufacturing  vats,  to  set 


Creameries. 


^93 


the  whey  in.  These  are  placed  lower  than  the  manu- 
facturing vats,  so  that  the  whey  will  run  from  one  to 
the  other,  to  save  carrying.  It  is  run  off  as  early  as 
practicable,  to  prevent  its  becoming  too  sour,  and 
cooled  as  quickly  as  possible  down  to  60%  and  left 
standing  about  twenty  hours  for  the  cream  to  rise.  It 
is  then  skimmed  with  a  tin  scoop,  as  it  is  apt  to  be  too 
thin  to  be  taken  off  perfectly  with  a  skimmer.  The 
treatment  of  the  cream,  the  churning  and  management 
of  the  butter,  are  the  same  as  in  making  butter  directly 
from  milk.  The  whey  from  600  gallons  of  milk  yields 
from  two  to  four  pounds  of  butter,  which  has  a  strong 
flavor  and  a  greasy  appearance.  It  has  generally  sold 
for  about  two-thirds  as  much  as  fine  butter  from  milk, 
and  is  generally  used  for  cooking. 

In  the  other  method  of  raising  the  cream,  the  whey 
is  run  into  vats,  the  same  as  in  the  first  instance,  and 
instead  of  cooling,  heating  the  whey  to  170°.  The 
cream  rises  rapidly  and  is  at  once  taken  off  and  cared 
for,  and  made  into  butter  in  the  usual  way.  The  yield 
of  butter  by  the  two  modes  is  about  equal,  but  the 
butter  from  the  heated  whey  is  much  the  best. 


2g^  American  Dairying, 


PRINCIPLES  IN  CHEESE  MAKING. 


In  butter  making,  we  only  make  use  of  the  fats  in 
the  milk.  In  cheese  making,  we  add  to  the  fats  its 
caseine.  The  elements  of  butter  are  already  in  a  con- 
dition suitable  for  food  or  preservation.  The  caseine 
is  not.  A  part  of  the  water  and  sugar  combined  with 
it  in  the  milk,  must  be  separated  to  secure  even  a  tem- 
porary preservation.  In  effecting  this,  we  convert  the 
caseine  into  curd,  which  is  insoluble  in  water,  and 
until  it  undergoes  further  change  to  render  it  soluble 
again,  is  indigestible.    See  Appendix  {a.) 

There  are  two  distinct  purposes  to  be  kept  in  view 
in  cheese  making.  The  first  is  to  expel  the  whey, 
which  contains  water,  sugar,  albumen  and  mineral 
matter.  This  is  done  by  treatment  in  the  vat.  The 
second  is  to  render  the  caseine  soluble  by  converting 
it  into  cheese.  This  is  done  principally  by  the  action 
of  rennet. 

CHARACTER  OF  RENNET  ACTION. 

The  process  of  cheese  making  is  essentially  one  of 
digestion,  resulting  from  the  action  of  gastric  juice 
derived  from  the  stomach  of  the  calf  by  steeping  it.  The 
jwominent  part  which  digestion  plays  in  cheese  manu- 
facture, first  impressed  upon  the  attention  of  dairy- 


Cheese  Making.  2g^ 

men  by  Mr.  A.  Holdridge,  of  West  Burlington,  N.  Y., 
embodies  the  fundamental  principles  of  all  successful 
cheese  making.  The  coagulation  of  milk  with  rennet 
is  the  beginning  of  the  digestive  process,  and  the  con- 
version of  the  curd  into  cheese  is  due  to  the  further 
action  of  the  rennet  enclosed  in  the  coagulum  formed 
by  itself. 

Milk  may  be  coagulated  by  other  agents  than  ren- 
net. Alum,  alcohol  and  various  acids  will  accomplish 
that  end,  but  they  fail  in  the  further  effect  of  convert- 
ing curd  into  cheese.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  no  sub- 
stitute has  been  found  which  could  successfully  take 
the  place  of  rennet  in  cheese  making. 

The  changes  which  are  wrought  upon  milk  in 
making  cheese  are  similar  to  those  which  occur  in 
the  stomach  of  a  calf  in  digesting  a  meal  of  milk. 
In  the  stomach,  the  milk  is  first  curdled  and  the  whey 
separated;  then  the  curd,  which  is  first  formed  into 
hard  lumps,  becomes  softened  on  the  outside,  and 
takes  on  the  cheesy  flavor  and  odor  which  we  get  in 
the  curing  room,  and  a  similar  texture,  becoming 
friable  and  tender,  and  then  gradually  dissolves  into  a 
liquid,  when  it  is  ready  for  assimilation. 

In  making  cheese  with  rennet,  we  do  the  same  thing, 
only  the  process  is  slower  and  less  perfectly  performed. 
We  use  but  a  small  amount  of  gastric  juice  to  begin 
with — only  about  to^  part  as  much  as  the  calf,  and  we 
work  with  less  warmth.  Nor  do  we  intend  to  digest 
the  curd  until  it  dissolves.  We  prefer  to  stop  it  just 
before  it  is  ready  to  dissolve.  In  this  stage,  if  all  con- 
ditions have  been  right,  it  becomes  a  very  desirable 
food — a  fancy  cheese.  When  curd  is  thus  digested 
to  the  verge  of  solution,  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  the 
human  stomach  to  finish  the  digestion, 


2g6  American  Dairying. 

The  steepings  of  rennets  contain  minute  globular 
bodies.  Viewed  with  a  microscope,  the  liquid  in 
which  they  are  soaked  appears  full  of  them.  We  have 
found  by  actual  count  over  i,ooo  of  them  in  one-five 
hundredth  part  of  a  drop  taken  from  a  gallon  of  water 
in  which  a  single  rennet  had  been  soaked.  At  this  rate, 
a  good  rennet  would  contain  some  200,000,000,000  of 
them.  These  minute  bodies  are  living  germs  that 
grow  and  multiply,  making  the  liquid  rennet  a  sea  of 
vegetable  life.  They  constitute  the  active  agency  in 
rennet,  as  we  have  proved  by  finding  the  strength  of 
liquid  rennet  to  correspond  with  the  number  and  size 
of  germs  it  contains  ;  and,  second,  by  filtering  them  out 
of  the  liquid,  when  the  soakings,  which  w^ere  before 
powerful,  became  entirely  inert.  The  writer  has 
repeated  these  experiments  so  often  and  so  successfully, 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  connection  of  these 
minute  atoms  with  the  active  agency  of  rennet.  These 
germs  are  the  spores  or  seeds  of  a  variety  of  blue 
mould,  and  are  susceptible  under  favorable  circum- 
stances of  a  wonderfully  rapid  multiplication.  Com- 
mon yeast  is  full  of  analagous  germs,  and  its  efficiency 
depends  upon  them.  It  is  from  their  remarkably 
rapid  increase  that  a  "little  leaven  leavens  the  whole 
lump."     All  yeast  has  a  similar  dependence. 

The  active  agency  in  rennet,  being  also  dependent 
upon  such  germs,  may  be  multiplied  and  carried  from 
batch  to  batch,  the  same  as  the  leaven  in  panary  fer- 
mentation, and  is  therefore  a  true  yeast,  and  should  be 
regarded  as  such  in  the  principles  of  cheese  making. 

EFFECT    OF  HEAT  IN  CHEESE    MAKING. 

Though  but  a  short  time  is  required  for  a  certain 
quantity  of   rennet  to   curdle  a  vat  full  of   milk,  to 


Cheese  Making.  2gy 

effect  a  perfect  coagulation  is  a  work  of  considerable 
time,  and  the  separation  of  the  whey  goes  on  slowly. 
Dairymen  are  in  the  habit  of  applying  rennet  to  milk 
at  8o*  to  84°,  and  at  this  temperature  the  digestion 
goes  on  tardily.  As  the  warmth  rises  toward  blood 
heat,  the  work  moves  much  faster.  To  continue  the 
contents  of  the  vat  at  84°,  would  require  a  very  long 
time  to  advance  the  curd  to  the  stage  necessary  to 
place  it  in  the  press  and  the  curing  room.  To  hasten 
the  process  and  shorten  the  time  of  working,  heat  is 
applied  and  the  temperature  of  the  mass  raised  to 
blood  heat.  In  doing  this,  skill  is  required.  It  is 
necessary  that  the  whole  mass  should  be  heated  evenly, 
or  some  parts  will  be  advanced  more  than  others,  to 
the  detriment  of  the  cheese.  To  apply  warmth  evenly, 
the  curd  must  be  cut  in  fine  pieces  and  the  mass  con- 
stantly stirred,  and  the  heating  must  be  gradual.  All 
this  requires  work,  time  and  waste,  but  with  our  pres- 
ent notions  of  cheese  making  it  must  be  done.  We 
could  not  complete  a  batch  of  cheese  in  a  day  at  84°, 
and  hence  we  must  hurry  the  operations  by  heating. 
As  the  heating  of  the  curd,  after  it  is  formed,  is  done 
solely  for  hastening  the  action  of  the  rennet,  in  effect- 
ing a  separation  of  the  whey  and  ripening  the  curd,  it 
would  seem  much  more  philosophical  to  apply  the  ren- 
net to  the  milk  at  a  higher  temperature,  which  could 
be  quickly  reached  without  detriment  to  the  milk,  and 
thus  save  the  trouble  and  waste  occasioned  by  cutting 
and  stirring,  and  the  loss  of  time  by  heating  the  curd 
slowly.  It  is  certainly  very  important  that  the  con- 
tents of  the  vat  should  not  be  allowed  to  cool  while 
waiting  for  the  curd  to  form  and  the  whey  to  separate. 
But  in  this  respect  the  practices  of  dairymen  are  not 
very  philosophical.     It  is  common  for  the  whey  and 


2()S  American  Dairying. 

curd  to  fall  several  degrees  in  cool  weather  while  the 
curd  is  hardening.  This  should  be  carefully  guarded 
against  by  covering  the  top  of  the  vat.    A  few  do  this. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Armstrong,  of  Dorset,  Vt.,  has  devised  a 
plan  for  conveniently  raising  and  lowering  a  cover  to 
a  large  vat,  so  that  it  can  quickly  be  hoisted  up  out  of 
the  way  when  it  is  necessary  to  work  the  curd,  and  be 
let  down  again  at  once,  and  cover  the  vat  tightly  when 
the  curd  is  not  being  worked.  An  illustration  of  the 
vat  and  cover  is  given  on  the  next  page. 

In  the  heating  arrangement  attached  to  this  vat,  Mr. 
Armstrong  has  provided  for  maintaining  a  uniform 
temperature  in  the  curd  for  the  whole  time  necessary 
for  it  to  remain  in  the  vat.  The  envelope  to  the  vat, 
with  a  sheet  iron  bottom  fitted  on  water  tight,  is  set 
on  a  brick  arch,  and  has  a  tight  cast  iron  fire  box  at 
one  end.  The  heat  and  smoke  go  under  the  whole 
length  of  the  sheet  iron  bottom,  and  then  up  and  out 
through  a  pipe.  A  sheet  iron  apron  is  placed  a  few 
inches  below  the  bottom  of  the  envelope,  to  shield  it 
from  the  direct  contact  'of  the  fire.  Ashes  are  sifted 
.over  the  apron,  thickly  toward  the  fire  box  and  thinly 
toward  the  other  end,  to  equalize  and  temper  the  heat. 
The  contents  of  the  milk  vat  are  warmed  by  warming 
water  in  the  envelope ;  and  a  fire  sufficient  to  warm  the 
milk  to  the  desired  degree  for  setting,  will  so  warm 
the  brick  arch  and  apron  and  ashes  upon  it,  that  when 
the  firebox  is  closed  and  the  draught  stopped,  the  con- 
tents of  the  vat,  if  closely  covered,  will  retain  an  even 
temperature  from  six  to  ten  hours,  long  enough  to 
manufacture  cheese,  without  change  of  temperature. 
Experiments  have  been  made  in  this  vat,  under  the 
inspection  of  the  writer,  in  which  the  milk  and  curds 
in  the  vat,  after  being  warmed  up  to  94°  for  setting. 


Cheese  Ma  kino. 


^99 


remained   in   one  case  six  hours  and  twenty-five  min- 
utes, and  in  another,  seven  hours  and  thirty  minutes 


Fig'  54- 


without  a  variation  of  so  much  as  half  a  degree.  In 
these  experiments,  not  only  was  there  no  change  of 
temperature,  but  the  usual  stirring  and  working  of  the 


J 00  American  Dairying. 

curds  were  wholly  omitted.  Nothing  more  was  done 
to  the  curd  than  to  cut  it  lengthwise  and  crosswise, 
and  let  it  lie  closely  covered  till  it  would  respond  to 
the  hot  iron  test,  when  it  was  salted  and  put  to  press. 
The  result  was  an  increased  product  of  fine  curd,  but 
from  being  injured  by  cold  in  curing,  the  cured  cheese 
was  only  of  medium  quality.  Similar  experiments  have 
since  been  repeated  in  this  vat  by  other  parties,  when 
the  weather  was  mild  and  curing  favorable,  in  which 
the  cheese  proved  to  be  very  fine,  demonstrating  the 
possibility  of  successful  cheese  making  without  chang- 
ing temperature,  or  waste  by  stirring  or  handling. 

I  have  spoken  thus  at  length  of  the  Armstrong  vat 
and  these  experiments,  while  treating  of  principles  in 
cheese  making,  for  the  purpose  of  leading  some  pro- 
gressive dairyman  to  make  the  necessary  experiments 
to  reduce  to  successful  practice  the  possibility  they 
demonstrate. 

ACIDITY  IN  CHEESE  MAKING. 

Though  the  coagulation  of  milk  and  the  curing  of 
cheese  are  brought  about  by  the  action  of  rennet,  it  is 
not  the  only  agent  which  acts  upon  milk  in  cheese 
making.  Lactic  yeast,  which  gets  into  milk  from  the 
air  or  other  sources,  is  always  present,  inducing  a  ten- 
dency to  souring.  This  acidifying  agent  produces 
specific  effects  upon  the  curd  and  cheese  which  are 
peculiar  and  powerful.  It  aids  rennet  in  the  coagula- 
tion of  milk,  but  counteracts  its  action  in  converting 
curd  into  cheese,  and  hence  retards  the  curing  process. 
While  lactic  acid,  like  many  others,  has  but  little 
influence  upon  solid  fats,  it  readily  takes  up  essential 
oils.  Hence  the  more  acid  there  is  developed  in  cheese 
making,  the  more  are  the  light  flavoring  oils  in  the 


Cheese  Making,  joi 

milk  taken  up,  thus  diminishing,  according  to  the 
strength  of  the  acid,  the  nutty  flavor  of  the  cheese. 
The  fine  aromatic  flavor  of  either  butter  or  cheese  may 
be  all  wiped  out  by  developing  a  sufficient  amount  of 
acid.  This  fact  is  worth  the  attention  of  all  cheese 
makers  who  aspire  to  the  production  of  a  choice 
quality  of  goods.  This  ability  of  lactic  and  other 
acids  to  take  up  volatile  oils,  is  often  of  great  service 
in  neutralizing  excessive  animal  odor  and  other  objec- 
tionable taints  and  odors  in  milk. 

Though  the  influence  of  lactic  yeast  is  always  opera- 
ting in  connection  with  rennet,  and  the  activity  of  both 
is  increased  as  blood  heat  is  approached,  their  relative 
activity  is  not  always  the  same.  The  action  of  the 
acid  yeast  is  relatively  greater  than  that  of  rennet  at 
the  higher  temperatures  used  in  cheese  making,  and 
slower  at  the  lower  ones.  There  is  often  occasion  to 
take  advantage  of  this  peculiarity,  and  hence  it  is 
noticed  in  connection  w4th  the  general  principles  in 
cheese  making. 

The  success  of  associated  dairying  now,  unfortu- 
nately, depends  largely  on  the  use  of  acid  as  a  con- 
trolling agent  and  corrective.  Our  practice  of  making 
one-half  of  the  milk  directly  into  cheese  without 
expelling  the  animal  odor — our  unphilosophical,  not 
to  say  wicked  habit,  of  carrying  milk  to  factories  warm 
in  closely  covered  vessels,  increasing  thereby  not  only 
the  original  amount  of  animal  odor,  but  aggravating 
every  taint  or  infection  the  milk  may  chance  to  possess 
from  the  cows  having  bad  food,  water,  air,  health,  or 
treatment — make  the  use  of  acid  a  necessity. 

Every  taint,  from  whatever  source  derived,  develops 
into  prominence  both  while  the  curd  is  in  the  vat  and 
while  it  is  ripening  in  the  curing  room,  so  that,  unless 


J02  American  Dairying, 

counteracted,  a  cheese  made  of  milk  containing  any 
taint,  grows  off  flavor  as  it  grows  old,  and  is  liable  to 
be  condemned  for  its  faults  before  it  is  half  ripe. 
Lactic  acid  neutralizes  and  hides  all  the  taints  which 
appear  in  milk,  and  hence  its  development  in  the  whey 
and  curds  renders  it  possible  to  make  a  marketable 
cheese,  out  of  milk  which  would  otherwise  be  con- 
demned. 

The  cheese  made  where  this  necessity  exists,  must 
always  be  at  least  second  quality,  for  while  the  acid 
employed  readily  takes  up  illegitimate  flavors  and 
odors,  it  just  as  readily  takes  up  the  legitimate  ones, 
and  hence  its  presence  always  depresses  the  delicious 
flavor  which  epicures  so  much  admire. 

First  class  cheese  can  only  be  made  from  first  class 
milk,  and  until  our  dairymen  learn  to  produce  such 
milk,  they  will  be  compelled  to  make  and  market 
second  class  cheese. 

As  all  the  legitimate  changes  in  making  and  curing 
cheese  are  due  to  the  action  of  rennet,  it  must  be  evi- 
dent that,  all  other  circumstances  being  the  same,  the 
more  rennet  there  is  used  the  more  rapid  and  vigorous 
will  those  changes  be.  Dairymen  act  upon  this  prin- 
ciple. Formerly,  when  cheese  was  all  made  in  private 
dairies,  it  was  made  to  keep,  and  a  small  amount  of 
rennet  was  used.  The  rennet  of  a  calf  was  sufficient 
to  curdle  the  milk  of  a  cow  for  the  whole  season. 
Now,  when  it  is  desired  to  hurry  cheese  off  to  market 
in  ten  or  twenty  days,  or  at  most,  thirty  days  from  the 
hoop,  it  requires  two  such  rennets  to  curdle  the  milk 
of  a  cow  for  the  same  time. 

When  it  is  desired  to  make  a  cheese  for  long  keep- 
ing, but  little  rennet  is  used,  and  its  action  in  the  vat 
is  hastened  by  setting  and  working  at  an  elevated  tem- 


Cheese   Making.  joj 

perature.  To  make  cheese  cure  rapidly,  more  rennet  is 
used,  and  a  too  rapid  action  in  the  vat  prevented  by 
setting  and  working  at  a  lower  heat. 

To  make  the  best  cheese,  rennet  enough  must  be 
used  to  keep  the  action  of  the  rennet  ahead  of  the  ten- 
dency to  souring  ;  otherwise  the  curd  will  have  a  ten- 
dency to  become  sour  and  hard,  rather  than  pasty  and 
rich. 

The  choicest  cheeses  are  set  at  a  pretty  low  temper- 
ature, and  with  considerable  rennet;  and  they  are 
worked  and  cured  at  a  low  and  steady  temperature  all 
the  way  through.  This  gives  the  rennet  action  the 
advantage  of  the  acid,  as  it  works  relatively  faster  than 
acid  at  a  low  heat ;  and  the  large  quantity  of  rennet 
used  does  not  hurry  the  action  too  much.  In  some  of 
the  best,  the  rennet  is  applied  at  about  77  degrees. 

This  circumstance  of  getting  the  rennet  action  to 
run  ahead  of  tiie  development  of  acidity,  enters  into 
the  manufacture  of  all  the  highly  prized  cheeses, 
wherever  made;  and  there  is  no  time  when  this  start 
can  be  given  so  well  as  before  the  curd  is  salted.  It  is 
done  most  effectually  by  working  low,  as  already 
described,  drawing  the  whey  early  and  packing  the 
curd  in  the  vat,  covering  it  so  that  it  shall  all  be  warm 
alike,  and  letting  it  lie  in  that  position  till  it  is  well 
matured.  Letting  the  whey  run  away  from  it  as  fast 
as  separated,  prevents  souring ;  and  it  may  lie  in  this 
situation  until  all  the  water  has  been  separated  that 
can  be,  without  leaving  the  curd  too  dry. 

This  is  the  underlying  principle  in  the  cheddering 
process.  There  are  different  w^ays  of  reaching  the 
same  result — as  putting  the  curd  into  a  hoop  and  let- 
ting it  lie  unpressed  and  warm  for  a  day  or  more 
before  salting  it ;  pressing  fresh  and  salting  afterward, 


jo^  American  Dairy mg. 

by  rubbing  salt  on  the  outside,  &c.,  &c. — in  all  of 
which,  the  ripening  process  is  put  ahead  by  keeping 
the  curd  warm  and  out  of  the  whey  for  a  greater  or 
less  time  before  checking  the  rennet  action  by  salting. 
This  course  not  only  makes  the  resulting  cheese  pasty 
and  rich,  but  it  retains  all  the  aroma  of  the  flavoring 
oils  in  the  milk. 

In  the  common  method  of  making  cheese  for  ship- 
ping, a  different  course  is  pursued.  The  curd  and 
whey  are  warmed  up  to  98°,  and  the  curd  is  kept  in 
the  whey  till  the  acid  gets  the  start  of  the  rennet. 
The  necessity  and  effect  of  this  treatment  have  been 
explained.  This  makes  the  cheese  dry,  firm  and  com- 
pact, instead  of  mellow  and  pasty,  and  enables  it  to 
stand  the  rough  treatment  of  shipping.  Rennet 
enough  is  used  to  digest  the  curd  into  a  rich  and 
nutty  paste,  but  its  action  is  so  modified  by  acid  that 
it  becomes  too  dry  and  insipid.  Our  shipping  cheese 
is  hardly  fancy. 

Under  the  present  state  of  things,  a  cheese  that  will 
stand  a  voyage  of  4,000  miles  can  hardly  be  a  fancy 
cheese.  In  fact,  the  choicest  cheese — that  which  is  the 
richest  and  highest  flavored — must,  like  the  choicest 
fruit,  be  consumed  not  far  from  where  it  is  pro- 
duced. 

But  a  much  fancier  cheese  than  we  are  now  pro- 
ducing, one  that  will  stand  shipping,  can  be  made.  To 
do  this,  will  require  milk  to  be  free  from  some  of  the 
imperfections  which  are  now  quite  common ;  it  must 
be  transported  to  the  factories  in  better  ventilated 
cans;  it  must  be  made  with  less  rennet  and  less 
acidity ;  and  it  must  be  cured  in  an  even  and  lower 
temperature,  and  in  a  longer  time.  While  this  course 
will  make  a  product  that  will  equal  our  present  cheese 


Cheese   Making.  jo§ 

in  compactness,  it  will  give  a  richness  and  high  flavor 
not  now  attained. 


PRESSING   CHEESE. 

The  object  of  pressing  cheese  is  to  make  the  parti- 
cles of  curd  cohere,  make  a  smooth  surface,  and  expel 
the  whey  which  adheres  to  or  is  mingled  with  the 
curd  as  it  goes  into  the  hoop.  The  idea  which  some 
have  that,  where  the  whey  is  not  properly  separated 
before  the  curd  goes  to  press,  it  can  be  forced  out 
by  hard  pressure,  is  entirely  idle.  Whey  is  separated 
by  fermentation,  or  other  changes  which  occur  in  the 
curd.  When  this  is  not  done,  no  amount  of  pressure 
can  remove  it.  The  amount  of  pressure  needed  varies 
with  the  condition  of  the  curd.  If  the  curd  is  cold 
and  hard,  it  must  be  severe ;  if  soft  and  v/arm,  but 
little  is  required. 

CURING  CHEESE. 

Our  curing  rooms  are  not  well  adapted  to  producing 
fine  cheese.  In  the  first  place,  they  are  too  dry.  To 
produce  the  best  results  in  curing  cheese,  the  room 
should  be  moist  enough  to  favor  a  free  development 
of  mold.  A  rapid  evaporation  of  water  from  the  cheese 
is  induced  by  a  dry  atmosphere.  Ten  tons  of  new 
cheese  wnll  lose,  in  a  dry  curing  room,  fifty  pounds  of 
water  per  day ;  this,  coming  mostly  from  the  surface 
of  the  cheeses,  makes  them  too  dry  to  cure  well.  The 
surface  in  such  cases  never  does  cure;  it  dries  down 
into  a  deep  and  hard  rind  of  dried  curd.  This  may  be 
some  protection  to  cheese  in  handling,  but  it  is  a  loss 
to  the  consumer  of  a  portion  of  the  outside  of  the 


jo6  AinericcDi  Dairying. 

cheese,  and  a  needless  loss  of  weight  to  the  producer, 
besides  doing  further  injury  by  preventing  the  ready 
escape  of  gases  produced  by  fermentation  within.  A 
basement  makes  an  excellent  curing  room — especially 
for  cheese  in  the  early  stages  of  curing.  But  little 
light  and  little  change  of  air  are  needed  in  curing 
cheese  at  the  start.  Such  a  room  develops  mold 
rapidly,  to  the  injury  of  the  external  appearance  of 
the  cheese,  but  it  is  much  better  to  contend  with  mold 
than  dry  air. 

The  most  obvious  defect  in  the  present  structure  of 
curing  rooms,  is  their  inability  to  guard  against  the 
varying  temperatures  of  the  outside  air.  Fancy  cheese 
cannot  be  cured  in  a  room  in  which  the  mercury  rises 
and  falls  inside  of  it  and  outside  of  it  alike.  An 
approximately  even  temperature  must  be  maintained, 
and  this  should  be  neither  too  high  nor  too  low,  but 
should  be  made  to  accord  with  the  amount  of  fat  the 
cheese  contains. 

The  more  fat,  the  cooler  may  be  the  room ;  and. the 
less  fat,  the  warmer  may  it  be.  The  presence  of  fat 
in  cheese  facilitates  the  curing  process;  so  that,  when 
cheese  is  very  rich  in  fat,  it  may  cure  at  a  low  temper- 
ature, and  be  fancy  when  it  is  done.  A  cheese  poor 
in  fat  must  be  well  warmed  up  to  make  any  reasonable 
progress,  and  is  always  liable  to  become  bitter,  in  a 
cool  room. 

It  is  neither  difficult  nor  expensive  building  curing 
rooms  in  which  a  comparatively  even  temperature  can 
be  maintained.  The  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  is, 
a  disposition  to  do  it. 

The  temperature  of  a  curing  room  for  whole  milk 
cheese  should  be  65°  to  70°;  for  part  skims,  70°  to 
75°;  for  hard  skims  and  sour  cheese,  75'  to  80°, 


Factory  Cheese  Making,  joj 


CHEESE  FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  MAN- 
AGEMENT. 


The  manufacture  of  cheese  in  factories  is  steadily 
gaining  in  favor  with  dairymen  and  taking  the  place 
of  private  dairies,  and  is  extending  into  new  territo- 
ries where  cheese  has  been  little  made  before. 

The  number  of  factories  in  the  United  States  is  now 
supposed  to  be  about  5,000,  and  the  number  is  rapidly 
increasing  ;  but  the  increase  in  the  sum  total  of  cheese 
made  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  increasing  number 
of  cheese  factories.  The  tendency  has  been  within  the 
last  few  years  to  build  small  factories  instead  of  large 
ones,  for  convenience  in  delivering  milk. 

In  the  old  cheese  producing  districts,  the  territory 
formerly  occupied  by  one  large  factory,  is  now  fre- 
quently divided  between  several  smaller  ones,  thus 
multiplying  the  number  of  factories  without  increas- 
ing the  amount  of  cheese.  Cheese  factories  have 
become  so  numerous  and  so  familiarly  known  that 
any  description  of  them  seems  almost  superfluous.  I 
give,  however,  ground  plans  of  a  few  representative 
factories,  which  will  show  the  common  structure. 


jo8 


A  mcrican  Dairying, 


WILLOW  GROVE  FACTORY. 

D,    Doors;   G,  Presses;    S,  Curd  sink; 
water  ;  P    Drive  way  ;  T,  Track  from  press 
curing  room  ;  V,  Vats  ;  W,  Weighing  cans  ; 
gine. 


high,  to  have  the  make  room 
story  and   a  curing  room  in 
upper  story. 


Figure  55  repre^ 
sents  the  Willow 
Grove  Factory, 
which  has  a  capa- 
city for  1,000  cows, 
with  a  curing  room 
separate  from  the 
manufacturi  ng 
room,  so  that  the 
cheese  while  curing 
shall  not  be  affected 
by  any  scent  from 
the  make  room. 
Size  of  make  room, 
30x28;  pressroom, 
14x26;  curing 
room,  30x100. 

This  mode  of  ar- 
ranging a  factory 
is  more  expensive 
than  to  have  the 
make  room  and 
curing  room  under 
the  same  roof,  but 
it  is  regarded  as 
favorable  to  purity 
of  air  in  the  curing 
room. 

The    more   com- 

plan     is     to 

build    two    stories 

in  one  end  of  the  lower 

the  other  end  and  in  the 


H.  Hot 
room  to 
E,  En-  j^Qn 


Factory  Cheese  Making. 


309 


] 


Fig.  s6. 


It  is  the  custom 
in  many  factories 
to  have  the  family 
of  the  manufac- 
turer live  in  the 
factory,  and  his 
residence  is  gen- 
erally located  in 
the  second  story 
over  the  make 
room.  It  is  more 
convenient  and 
pleasant  to  place 
his  residence  in 
the  lower  story 
and  in  the  end 
most  distant  from 
the  make  room. 

Fig.  56  repre- 
sents the  ground 
plan  of  a  com- 
mon form  of  fac- 
tory without  any 
living  rooms.  It 
is32xioo. 

Plans  of  fac- 
tories are  abun- 
dant and  easily 
obtained,  and   as 


A,  Annattojar;    O,  Salt  barrel  ;  R  R,   Cold  water, 
W,  Platform  and  weighing  cans  ;    M,  Stairs — the  one  thcV  mUSt  Varv  tO 
outside  and  the  one  in  the  curing  room,  leading  to  the         /        ^ 
second  story  ;    I,   Heating  apparatus  in  curing  room  ;  suit     different     lo- 
D,  Doors  ;  V,  Vats  ;  S,  Curd  Sink  ;  H,  Hot  water  :  C,  .    . 

Table :  E,  Engine  room.  CalitieS     and      cir- 

cumstances,  it  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  illustra- 


^10  A^nerican  Dairying. 

tions.  The  mode  of  building  will  be  much  more 
likely  to  be  defective  than  the  form.  The  site  will  be 
determined  by  the  convenience  of  delivering  milk  and 
the  water  supply,  which  it  is  very  desirable,  should  be 
abundant  and  cool.  Spring  water  is  best,  but  a  well 
will  answer  if  made  large  and  deep  enough  to  keep 
cool.  If  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  too  high, 
it  may  be  cooled  with  ice,  but  a  well  is .  always 
objectionable  by  reason  of  the  labor  of  pumping.  A 
cool  spring  saves  this  labor  and  the  expense  of  ice. 
The  amount  of  water  absolutely  necessary  in  a  factory 
is  not  so  very  large,  if  carefully  economized,  but  it  is 
much  better  to  have  it  plenty.  The  amount  which 
will  run  through  a  three-quarter  inch  tube  under  two 
feet  head,  would  be  preferred  for  every  200  cows. 

Buildings  for  the  manufacture  of  milk,  whether  to 
be  made  into  cheese  or  butter,  should  be  built  with 
special  reference  to  maintaining  an  even  temperature. 
The  cheese  factories  of  the  earlier  days  of  the  asso- 
ciated system  were  very  defective  in  this  respect.  Sided 
up  with  inch  boards,  neither  jointed  nor  matched,  but 
only  roughly  battened,  and  often  made  of  lumber  not 
very  sound,  the  air,  whether  hot  or  cold,  found  such 
ready  access  that  the  temperature  wnthin  doors  varied 
but  little  from  that  outside.  This,  in  hot  weather,  was 
very  unfavorable  for  the  milk  which  stood  in  the  vats 
over  night,  and  disastrous  to  the  cheese  which  had  to 
be  cured  under  such  shelter.  The  necessity  of  building 
a  curing  room  for  cheese  so  as  to  control  the  temper- 
ature, seems  not  to  have  been  properly  appreciated  by 
the  pioneers  in  the  associated  system,  nor  is  it  properly 
understood  now.  What  is  wanted  are  walls,  floors. 
and  ceilings,  through  which  neither  cold  nor  heat  can 
penetrate,  and  these  are  seldom  found  among  the  hosts 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jii 

of  Eastern  factories.  While  in  Northern  Illinois  and 
Southern  Wisconsin,  last  summer,  I  saw  a  consider- 
able number  of  factories  which  appeared  to  me  to  be 
a  decided  improvement  over  the  common  style  of 
building  in  the  East.  They  were  very  efficient  in  pro- 
tecting their  apartments  against  both  heat  and  cold, 
and  were  at  the  same  time  durable  and  inexpensive 
The  sills  of  the  buildings  were  placed  upon  good 
walls  of  mason  work  and  the  outer  walls  studded  in 
the  usual  way.  The  studs  were  set  just  far  enough 
apart  to  take  on  a  breadth  of  ceiling  paper  and  have 
it  break  joints  on  the  studs — the  paper  running  from 
the  sill  to  the  plate.  Paper  was  tacked  onto  the  studs 
both  inside  and  outside,  and  then  covered,  on  the 
inside  with  good  planed  and  matched  boards  running 
horizontally,  and  on  the  outside  with  the  same  running 
up  and  down. 

This  made  between  the  walls  a  dead  air  space  much 
more  perfect  than  could  possibly  be  made  with  wood 
alone,  or  by  lathing  and  plastering — the  glazed  paper 
being  entirely  impervious  to  air.  The  under  side  of 
the  joists  were  ceiled  in  the  same  way  and  the  floors 
were  also  lined  with  the  ceiling  paper.  With  the 
doors  and  windows  snugly  fitted,  a  room  thus  pro- 
tected could  be  made  to  maintain  an  equable  temper- 
ature, but  little  above  60  degrees,  through  all  the  hot 
weather,  and  could  be  very  easily  kept  warm  in  cold 
weather.  I  saw  cheese  curing  in  these  rooms,  in  hot 
weather  in  June,  without  being  at  all  affected  by  the 
severe  heat  of  that  season.  The  rooms  were  opened 
during  cool  nights  and  closed  during  the  day  to  shut 
out  the  heat,  which  they  did  effectually.  In  creamer- 
ies, there  was  no  difficulty  in  keeping  butter  in  a  room 
above  ground,  though  a  basement  for  such  use  wonld 


312  American  Dairying. 

be  preferred.  This  mode  of  building  is  commended 
to  such  as  are  erecting  new  factories,  and  it  may  often 
be  made  useful  in  repairing  and  reconstructing  old 
ones. 

DELIVERING  MILK  TO  FACTORIES. 

When  milk  is  to  be  carried  to  the  factory  or  cream- 
ery, it  is  of  course  strained  into  a  can.  Ordinarily  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  leave  the  can  standing  open,  in  a 
sweet,  cool  place — always  out  of  the  sun  or  rain — with, 
perhaps,  an  occasional  stirring  to  prevent  the  forma- 
tion of  an  air  tight  covering  of  cream.  Once  on  the 
road,  of  course,  the  milk  will  be  sufficiently  agitated 
for  all  practical  purposes.  And  here,  as  before,  neither 
ventilation  nor  protection  from  atmospheric  influence 
should  be  neglected.  There  should  be  a  cover  to  the 
milk  wagon,  and  the  cover  of  the  can  should  be  pro- 
vided with  openings,  constructed  so  as  to  prevent 
waste  of  milk,  through  which  the  animal  odor  can 
freely  escape. 

The  iron  clad  can  is  the  one  generally  used  for 
carrying  milk  to  factories  and  creameries,  and  is  well 
adapted  for  that  purpose,  with  the  exception  of  its 
having  a  tight  cover  and  no  sufficient  provision  for 
ventilation.  One  of  the  most  objectionable  things 
about  the  American  dairy  system,  is  carrying  milk  to 
the  factories  in  cans  partly  filled  and  closed  with  tight 
covers.  If  the  cans  could  be  filled  perfectly  full,  much 
of  the  difficulty  would  be  obviated,  as  the  agitation  of 
the  milk  would  be  greatly  reduced. 

Dairymen  seem  very  slow  to  learn  that  the  agitation 
of  warm  milk  developes  and  increases  the  odor  of  new 
milk  when  closely  covered,  yet  it  is  a  fact  which  stares 


Factory  Cheese  Making. 


313 


most  of  them  in  the  face  every  time  they  deliver  milk 
to  a  factory.     New  milk  is  always  injured  in  its  flavor 


Pis- 57. 


by  carrying  in  a  can  with  straight  sides,  like  the  iron 
ciad,  when  there  is  room  in  the  top  of  the  can  for  it 
to  splash  from  side  to  side,  and  no  chance  is  given  for 


314-  American  Dairying. 

the  accumulating  odor  to  escape.  Milk  which  appears 
well  when  it  starts  from  the  dairy,  appears  affected 
when  thus  treated,  by  the  time  it  reaches  the  factory, 
even  if  it  has  but  a  short  distance  to  go.  A  very  large 
share  of  the  milk  delivered  to  cheese  factories  is 
injured  in  being  transported,  so  much  as  to  materially 
depress  the  quality  of  the  cheese  made  from  it. 

If  there  is  the  least  thing  about  milk  which  is  not 
just  right,  carrying  it  closely  covered  will  soon  swell 
the  little  defect  to  a  very  large  one.  In  1869,  I 
examined  a  herd  of  cows  whose  milk  was  affected  by 
breathing  the  scent  of  carrion.  The  milk  was  care- 
fully examined  as  it  was  milked,  and  when  it  started 
for  the  factory  could  not  be  distinguished  from  perfect 
milk.  The  cans  were  closely  covered,  and  when  they 
had  rode  in  this  condition  two  miles  to  the  factory, 
the  odor  had  become  perfectly  nauseating  and  the 
milk  so  injured  that  the  whole  vatful  with  which  it 
was  mixed  was  nearly  ruined.  A  similar  result  fol- 
lows whenever  cows  become  a  little  affected  by  a  hot 
sun,  by  worrying  a  little,  or  drinking  stagnant  water, 
or  going  without  water  too  long,  or  by  a  multitude  of 
other  little  irregularities  which  are  every  now  and 
then  occurring,  but  which  would  be  entirely  obviated 
if  the  cover  of  the  can  were  sufficiently  open  to  give 
the  milk  free  access  to  the  air.  With  proper  ventila- 
tion of  the  carrying  cans,  tainted  milk  would  be  of 
very  rare  occurrence,  and  thousands  of  dollars  would 
annually  be  saved  in  the  quality  of  cheese.  For  but- 
ter making  milk  is  not  improved  by  transporting,  but 
for  cheese  making,  the  ride  to  a  factory  is  a  positive 
advantage,  if  properly  ventilated. 

A  variety  of  ways  have  been  devised  for  ventilating 
milk   cans,  but  I   have    seen    nothing  so   cheap   and 


Factory  Cheese  Making, 


315 


efficient  as  the  device  of  the  author,  illustrated  in 
figure  58.  It  is  made  by  cutting  a  circle  out  of  the 
center  of  the  cover,  and  soldering  over  it  a  piece  of 
coarsely  perforated  tin,  or  of  wire  cloth,  and  giving  it 
a  moderate  depression  in  the  middle.  Around  the 
outside  of  the  wire  cloth  is  soldered  a  flange  of  tin 
two  inches  high  to  prevent  any  milk  which  may  dash 
through  the  cloth  from  w^asting. 


Fig.  J<?. 

The  only  objection  to  this  mode  of  ventilating,  is  a 
possibility  that  dust  may  occasionally  fall  through  it 
into  the  milk.  It  ventilates  perfectly.  Milk  which 
would  injure  by  riding  under  a  tight  cover,  will  grow 
better  by  riding  under  this,  and  the  farther  it  rides  the 
better  it  will  be,  provided  it  stops  short  of  souring  or 
churning  to  butter.  Under  it,  milk  carried  to  a  cheese 
factory  needs  no  other  airing  or  cooling. 


DELIVERING  MILK  ONCE  A  DAY. 

With  proper  facilities  for  taking  care  of  the  milk  on 
the  farm,  it  is  quite  as  well  to  deliver  it  once  a  day  as 
twice.       All   that   is    needed  is  an  open   shed  under 


^i6  American  Dairying. 

which  the  evening's  milk  can  stand  during  the  night, 
uncovered,  and  a  double  set  of  cans  for  carrying.  The 
night's  milk  should  occupy  all  the  cans  till  morning. 
This  will  spread  it  so  much  that  no  other  cooling  will 
be  required  than  it  will  receive  from  the  night  air, 
except,  perhaps,  occasionally  in  a  very  warm  night. 
In  the  morning,  one  half  of  the  cans  may  be  emptied 
into  the  other  half,  and  the  cans  taken  for  the  morn- 
ing's milk,  which  should  not  be  mixed  with  the  night's 
milk  before  it  reaches  the  factory. 

At  the  cheese  factories,  milk  is  always  received  by 
weight  instead  of  measure.  Upon  arrival  at  the  fac- 
tory, it  is  elevated  by  a  wheel  or  a  crane  and  dumped 
into  a  large  weighing  can  which  stands  on  platform 
scales,  high  enough  to  allow  of  spouting  the  milk,  in 
an  open  conductor,  to  the  manufacturing  vats  as  soon 
as  weighed.  A  very  convenient  scale  for  this  purpose 
has  been  invented  by  the  Buffalo  scale  works,  which 
has  a  seven-barred  scale  beam,  on  which  the  milk 
of  seven  different  patrons  can  be  weighed  without 
emptying  the  milk  can,  or  stopping  to  set  down  the 
weights. 

The  milk  received  at  night  is  run  into  the  manufac- 
turing vats,  and  cooled  by  running  water  under  it 
down  to  about  70°,  and  left  for  the  night.  By  allowing 
the  water  to  run  all  night  it  will  get  down  to  about  60' 
by  morning,  and  will  be  in  good  order. 

A  few  years  ago  a  good  deal  of  stress  was  laid  upon 
the  use  of  agitators,  by  the  action  of  which  the  milk 
was  kept  stirred  all  night,  to  prevent  the  cream  from 
rising.  They  were  kept  in  operation  by  the  power 
furnished  by  the  waste  water  used  to  cool  the  milk. 
They  are  occasionally  in  use  yet.  They  are  so  regu- 
lated as  to  act  at  regular  intervals,  stirring  the  milk  or 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jiy 

producing  waves  on  its  surface.  The  effect  was  to 
prevent  a  coat  of  cream  from  forming.  They  could 
hardly  prevent  the  cream  from  coming  to  the  surface, 
but  they  would  prevent  it  from  becoming  thick.  They 
left  it  mingled  with  the  top  of  the  milk.  The  use  of 
these  machines  is  differently  estimated  by  cheese 
makers.  Some  prize  them  highly  and  others  think 
them  of  questionable  utility.  After  one  season's  use 
of  a  good  machine  I  laid  it  by  as  not  worth  the  little 
trouble  of  keeping  it  in  operation.  There  was  quite 
as  much  waste  when  the  agitator  was  run  as  when  it 
was  not,  and  sometimes  I  thought  more. 

In  the  morning,  the  cream  which  may  have  been 
raised  during  the  night,  is  dipped  off  (I  used  a  curd 
scoop)  and  as  the  morning's  milk  is  run  into  the  vats, 
is  turned  into  the  strainer  and  washed  through  with 
the  warm  milk.  This,  with  me,  seemed  to  put  the 
cream  in  better  condition  for  mixing  with  the  milk, 
than  when  it  was  left  in  by  the  agitator.  The  cream 
should  be  taken  off  before  any  of  the  morning's  milk 
is  run  in,  but  it  should  not  be  put  into  the  strainer  till 
near  the  close  of  running  in  the  morning's  milk,  so 
that  it  shall  be  freshly  mixed  with  the  milk  at  the  time 
of  applying  the  rennet. 

For  furnishing  steam  and  motive  power  in  factories 
and  creameries,  for  grinding  curd,  churning,  &c.,  small 
portable  boilers  of  different  patterns  are  employed, 
many  of  them  being  built  with  special  reference  to 
dairy  use.  Prominent  among  them  is  the  horizontal 
flue  boiler,  known  as  "  The  Economizer,"  for  an  illus- 
tration of  which  I  am  indebted  to  Gardner  B.  Weeks, 
dealer  in  dairy  apparatus,  Syracuse,  N.Y.  (See  figures 
59  and  60.) 

This  boiler  has  all  the  necessary  .fixtures  for  con- 


J^S 


American  Dairying. 


Figures  sg  aud  6o.— THE  ECONOMIZER. 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jig 

venience  and  safety,  and  is  ready  for  use  when 
shipped  and  is  set  up  without  any  mason  work.  The 
engine  attached  to  it  is  simple  in  structure  and  is 
easily  and  safely  managed  by  workmen  of  ordinary 
skill,  and  has  an  adjustable  cut-off  for  economizing  the 
use  of  steam.  The  four-horse  power  boiler  is  adapted 
to  a  factory  of  400  cows,  varying  the  size  up  or  down 
for  a  greater  or  less  number. 

Messrs.  Jones  &  Faulkner,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  long  and 
prominently  known  as  dealers  in  dairy  apparatus,  and 
to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  various  illustrations,  also 
build  an  excellent  boiler  and  engine  for  dairy  purposes, 
as  also  do  other  parties,  but  which  I  have  not  space  to 
illustrate. 

There  are  different  ways  for  warming  milk  and 
heating  curds.  The  agent  most  generally  preferred 
is  dry  steam,  which  must  be  very  carefully  distributed 
to  prevent  heating  different  parts  of  the  vat  unequally. 
To  secure  even  heating,  some  workmen  fill  the  space 
between  the  vats  with  water,  and  heat  the  water  by  dis- 
charging steam  into  it.  Others  heat  the  water  by  a 
direct  application  of  the  fire,  and  others  still  do  the 
heating  by  throwing  a  jet  of  steam  directly  into  the 
milk  and  whey.  I  have  used  all  these  methods.  Throw- 
ing the  steam  directly  into  the  milk  or  whey  to  be 
heated,  is  the  simplest  and  cheapest  way ;  dry  steam 
between  the  vats  is  most  convenient ;  and  water  heats 
most  evenly  and  holds  heat  the  longest,  but  is  most 
difficult  to  control. 

The  vats  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cheese  are  built 
nearly  alike,  all  being  composed  of  a  tin  vat  for  hold- 
ing the  milk,  within  a  wooden  envelope,  having  a 
space  between  the  two  for  steam  or  water  to  heat  or 
cool  the  milk  as  required.     The  tin  vat  is  fitted  with  a 


3^0 


American  Dairying. 


frame,  and  handles  for  holding  it  in  place,  or  lifting  it 

out  at  any  time  desired. 

Some  are  fitted  with  a 
heater  under  them,  or  at- 
tached to  one  end,  making 
what  are  called  self-heat- 
ers. Others  are  made  for 
heating  with  water  only. 
The  form  here  illustrated 
in  figure  6i  is  the  one 
generally  used. 

If  there  is  more  than 
one  vat,  the  morning's 
milk,  as  it  arrives,  should 
be  divided  so  as  to  be 
mixed  half  and  half  with 
the  night's  milk.  The 
coloring,  if  any  is  used, 
may  be  applied  at  any 
time  after  the  cream  is 
stirred  in.  It  is  only  es- 
sential that  it  should  be 
well  mixed  before  the 
rennet  is  put  in.  The 
rennet  should  be  in  read- 
iness and  as  soon  as 
the     milk     intended    for 


Fig.  6i. 


the  vat  is  all  in,  it  should  be  added  and  well  stirred  to 
be  evenly  mixed  through  the  whole  mass.  The  stir- 
ring should  continue  till  near  the  time  the  coagulation 
is  expected  to  begin,  and  then  the  vat  should  be  closely 
covered  and  left  for  the  milk  to  come  to  rest  before  the 
curd  begins  to  form. 

The  mode  of  heating  to  warm  the  milk  is  not  es§en- 


Factory  Cheese  Making. 


321 


tial,  if  only  there  is  left  no  steam  leaking  on,  nor  hot 
water  about  the  vat,  to  make  an  unequal  heat  in  any 
part  of  it  while  the  curd  is  being  formed.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  milk  when  the  rennet  is  applied  varies 
according  to  the  condition  of  the  milk  and  the  par- 
ticular mode  of  making  intended  to  be  carried  out. 
When  the  milk  is  in  a  normal  condition  and  cheddar 
cheese  is  intended  to  be  made,  the  rennet  is  applied, 
by  a  majority  of  makers,  at  84°  and  enough  rennet  put 
in  to  show  signs  of  curding  in  ten  to  fifteen  minutes, 
and  to  become  firm  enough  to  cut  in  about  forty-five 
minutes. 

When  the  curd  has  be- 
come of  the  right  consis- 
tency for  cutting,  which  is 
determined  by  its  parting 
with  a  clean  fracture  as  the 
finger  is  passed  through  it, 
it  is  cut  with  the  Young's 
perpendicular  curd  knife, 
both  lengthwise  and  cross- 
wise of  the  vat,  and  then 
with  the  horizontal  knife, 
which  leaves  the  curd  in  half 
inch  cubes.  It  is  then  left 
standing  till  the  curd  is 
nicely  covered-  with  whey, 
say  fifteen  minutes.  Then 
with  the  hands,  the  curd  is  stirred  from  the  bottom,  care- 
fully bringing  as  much  of  the  bottom  as  possible  to 
the  surface,  especially  if  any  part  has  been  missed 
with  the  curd  knives,  so  that  it  may  be  made  fine  like 
the  rest,  and  so  that  the  mass  of  curd  shall  be  loosened 
up  as  much  as  possible,  to  be  in  a  condition  to  heat 


Fig.  62. 

PERPENDICULAR 
KNIFE. 


Fig.  63. 

HORIZONTAL 
KNIFE. 


J22  American  Dairying. 

evenly.  When  this  is  done  the  heat  is  let  on  and  the 
curd  warmed  up  very  gradually,  five  or  six  degrees, 
and  gently  stirred  to  keep  the  curd  from  packing  and 
therefore  heating  unevenly.  The  heat  should  then  be 
shut  off  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  to  give  time  for 
the  lumps  of  curd  to  get  warmed  through,  so  that  the 
inside  of  the  lumps  shall  have  the  same  temperature 
as  the  outside,  but  moderate  stirring  should  be  con- 
tinued to  prevent  packing  while  the  heat  is  off.  As 
soon  as  the  heat  is  supposed  to  have  penetrated 
through  the  lumps  of  curd,  so  that  they  have  the 
same  temperature  inside  as  outside,  the  heat  may  be 
turned  on  again  and  the  mass  raised  five  or  six  degrees 
more  in  the  same  way  as  before,  and  after  another 
interval,  repeated,  bringing  the  whole  up  to  96  or  98 
degrees.  The  stirring  at  first  is  best  done  by  hand, 
afterward,  when  it  begins  to  harden,  it  may  be  stirred 
with  a  rake.  The  whole  time  of  heating  should  occupy 
an  hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours.  The  more  gradual 
it  is  done  the  better.  Up  to  this  point  in  the  process, 
the  practices  of  manufacturers  are  very  uniform,  vary- 
ing but  little  from  the  course  here  indicated.  Beyond 
this,  they  differ  considerably.  The  leading  features  in 
the  different  courses  pursued  deserve  attention.  The 
one  by  which  the  finest  cheese  is  made  is  of  English 
origin,  and  is  known  as  the  Cheddar  system,  and  will 
be  first  described.  The  English  method  is  not  strictly 
followed  by  American  manufacturers.  It  is  varied  in 
different  ways,  but  the  underlying  principle  is  not  lost 
sight  of  in  the  various  deviations  from  the  English 
mode.  Mr.  S.  A.  Farrington,  of  Pennsylvania,  who 
derived  his  practice  directly  from  English  experts,  and 
who  is  quite  successful  in  making  after  the  Cheddar 
plan,  proceeds  as  follows,  taking  the  work  from  the 


Factory  Cheese  Making. 


323 


time  when  the  heating  is  done.  After  the  heat  is 
turned  off,  and  the  whey  and  curds,  and  water  under 
the  vat,  if  any,  have  assumed  a  uniform  temperature 
and  there  is  no  longer  any  danger  of  heating  unevenly, 
the  stirring  ceases,  to  let  the  curd  pack  on  the  bottom 
of  the  vat  and  the  fine  particles,  which  may  be  floating 
in  the  whey,  settle  and  adhere  to  the  rest.  When  this 
has  been  done,  the  syphon  (fig.  64)  is  applied  and  the 
whey  drawn  off,  the  vat  is 
tipped  a  little,  and  the  curd 
heaped  up  against  the  sides 
of  the  vat  and  left  to  drain. 
If  the  weather  is  cool,  a  lit- 
tle heat  is  let  in  and  the  vat 
covered  to  keep  the  temper- 
ature about  98°  In  warm 
weather  this  will  not  be  re- 
quired. In  this  condition 
the  whey  is  steadily  draining 
out  and  the  curd  becoming 
more  firmly  packed.  As 
soon  as  it  has  become  suffi- 
ciently adhesive  to  hold  to- 
gether, say  in  15  or  26  min- 
utes, it  is  cut  into  chunks 
convenient  to  handle,  and  turned  over,  so  that  all 
parts  shall  be  affected  alike.  This  is  repeated  at 
intervals  of  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  till  the  curd  is 
advanced  to  the  proper  stage  for  salting  and  pressing. 
This  stage  is  determined  by  the  appearance  and  smell 
of  the  curd.  When  sufficiently  ripened  the  curd 
becomes  tough  and  stringy,  and  when  pulled  apart, 
splits  instead  of  breaking,  showing  a  fibrous  structure 
similar  to  that  which  may  be  seen  in  pulling  apart  the 


3H 


Amcrican  Daii'ying. 


muscular  fibers  in  lean  beef  when  boiled.  At  this 
stage,  it  assumes  a  distinct  and  peculiar  odor  which  it 
is  difficult  to  describe.  It  has  something  of  the  sick- 
ening smell  of  animal  odor,  but  is  more  like  that  of 
the  cows'  breath  than  anything  else  I  can  compare  it 
with. 

As  the  curd  approaches  the  proper  degree  of  ripe- 
ness it  is  allowed  to  cool  gradually,  so  that  when  it  is 
ground  the  bits  of  curd  will  not  so  readily  adhere 
again,  as  they  would  do  if  kept  near  98°.  If  the  curd 
mill  is  operated  by  hand,  it  may  now  be  set  on  the 
vat,  that  the  curd  as  ground  may  fall  back  into  the 
vat.     If  the  mill  is  operated  by  power,  the  curd  is  put 

into  a  curd  sink, 
and  run  under  the 
mill  and  ground 
fine  enough  to 
admit  of  salting 
evenly.  A  curd 
mill  which  will  cut 
the  curd  fine,  in- 
stead of  bruising  it 
to  pieces,  is  prefer- 
red, the  only  object 
being  to  make  the 
curd  fine  for  the  sake  of  even  salting.  Tavo  and  a 
quarter  to  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  salt  to  1,000 
pounds  of  milk  is  applied,  and  when  cooled  to  70°  the 
curd  is  put  to  press.  When  the  milk  is  all  right, 
this  process  produces  a  fancy  cheese. 

Others  let  the  whey  all  remain  on  the  curd  till  it 
begins  to  show  indications  of  acidity,  then  draw  off 
the  whey  and  treat  as  above,  or  decide  when  the  curd 
is  ready  for  the  press  by  the  hot  iron  test. 


Fig.  65. 
CURD  MILL. 


Factory  Cheese  Makini 


325 


It  is  not  necessary,  in 
following  out  the  Ched- 
dar system,  to  be  very 
precise  as  to  the  time  the 
whey  is  drawn,  if  only  it 
is  done  before  acidity  be- 
comes distinct ;  but  it  may 
be  remarked  that,  as  a 
general  thing,  the  longer 
the  curd  lies  in  the  whey 
after  it  is  separated,  the 
more  the  quality  of  the 
cheese,  is  depressed,  the 
influence  of  the  whey  up- 
on the  curd,  especially  in 
its  later  stages,  being  un- 
favorable to  fine  quality. 

Another  process,  which 
may  be  denominated  the 
American  process,  is  as 
follows  : 

Starting  from  the  point 
w^iere  we  began  with  the 
Cheddar  system— the  time  ^'^  ^^' 

when  the  heating  was  curd  sink  on  castors.  ^ 
(ione — the  curd,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  pack,  is 
gently  stirred  to  keep  it  fine  and  prevent  it  from 
packing.  The  stirring  is  kept  up  and  the  whey  is 
kept  on  until  the  acid  becomes  distinct.  The  curd 
is  from  time  to  time  tested,  and  as  soon  as  it  will 
respond  to  the  hot  iron  test,  the  whey  is  drawn,  the 
curd  dipped  into  the  sink  and  carefully  stirred  enough 
to  prevent  its  adhering  till  it  is  sufficiently  drained 
for  salting.     It  is  then  salted  at  the  rate  of  2  >^  to  2^ 


^26  American  Dairying. 

pounds  of  salt  to  i,ooo  pounds  of  milk,  and  when  cool 
enough,  put  to  press.  This  will  produce  a  firm,  com- 
pact and  meaty  cheese,  of  fair  flavor  and  of  good  ship- 
ping quality,  but  in  fineness  of  flavor  will  be  inferior 
to  the  Cheddar  cheese. 

The  difference  in  the  working  of  these  two  pro- 
cesses is  this  :  In  the  former — the  Cheddar  process — 
the  formation  of  acid  is,  to  a  large  extent,  prevented 
by  removing  the  whey  which  contains  the  acidifying 
agent — sugar.  If,  by  reason  of  the  little  sugar  left  in 
the  curd,  acidity  develops  while  the  cheddaring  pro- 
cess is  going  on,  it  is  at  once  carried  away  by  the  whey 
which  is  all  the  time  separating  and  escaping.  By 
this  means,  the  digestive  action  carried  on  by  the 
agency  of  rennet  in  the  curd,  goes  on  unimpeded,  as 
the  acid  which  would  counteract  its  progress,  is  kept 
out  of  its  way.  By  this  process,  too,  the  nutty  flavor 
is  very  completely  retained,  as  there  is  not  sufficient 
acid  developed  to  neutralize  it.  By  this  process  of  re- 
moving the  whey  early,  taints  of  every  variety,  as  well 
as  acidity,  are  carried  away  and  prevented  from  form- 
ing, leaving  the  rennet  to  its  own  perfect  action. 

In  the  other  process — that  of  leaving  the  whey  on 
and  developing  a  distinct  acidity — the  strong  acid 
counteracts,  to  some  extent,  the  activity  of  the  rennet 
action.  This  of  itself  would  do  no  serious  injury. 
What  the  acid  does  besides  this,  is  to  neutralize  every 
species  of  taint  which  may  have  developed  from  any 
cause  in  the  curd  and  whey,  holding  them  in  check, 
while  the  rennet,  but  little  impeded  by  the  *acid,  goes 
on  curing  the  cheese.  The  great  point  in  the  use  of 
acid  is,  that  it  neutralizes  all  the  volatile  matters  which 
make  taints  perceptible.  If  it  stopped  at  this  point, 
it  would   be  well ;   but>  as  before  explained,  it  neu- 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jzy 

tralizes  also  the  volatile  oils  on  which  the  nutty  flavor 
of  cheese  depends,  so  that  the  more  acid  we  develop, 
the  less  nutty  flavor  in  the  cheese. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  associated  dairying,  it  was 
customary  to  dip  the  curd  while  perfectly  sweet,  and, 
without  cheddaring  or  souring,  drain,  salt,  and  put  to 
press  at  once,  or  as  soon  as  cooled.  A  similar  course 
is  often  pursued  now.  The  result  is  a  soft,  weak,  por- 
ous or  spongy  cheese,  which  some  people  like,  but 
which  more  people  do  not.  In  this  practice  there  is 
no  definite  rule  for  determining  when  the  curd  is  fit 
for  the  press.  Something  can  be  told  by  the  elasticity 
with  which  the  lumps  of  curd  spring  apart  after  being 
squeezed  in  the  hand,  or  by  its  squeaking  between  the 
teeth ;  but  these  are  very  indefinite  guides.  The  maker 
has  to  rely  on  his  judgment  or  experience,  and  hence 
it  is  rare  that  the  cheese  will  be  alike  in  any  two  cases. 
Cheeses  made  in  this  way  are  very  apt  to  huff"  and  be 
off"  flavor,  and  get  out  of  shape,  especiallv  in  the  early 
part  of  their  curing.  The  large  amount  of  whey  left 
in  the  curd  often  develops  a  strong  acid  in  the  curing 
room,  before  cheesing  begins,  by  which  the  fine  flavor 
of  the  resulting  cheese  is  always  depressed,  and  not 
untrequently  occasions  leaking.  The  best  reliance  for 
getting  a  good  cheese  by  this  method,  is  to  work  very 
fine  and  heat  pretty  high,  by  which  means  the  whey 
may  be  sufficiently  worked  out  to  secure  meatiness 
and  a  fair  flavor. 

The  three  processes  described  may  be  regarded  as  the 
leading  ones  in  the  American  system  of  cheese  making. 
The  multifarious  modes  adopted  by  different  dairymen 
are  but  modifications  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  three 
primary  methods. 


^28  American  Dairymg, 

WORKING  TAINTED  MILK. 

Under  the  phrase  "  tainted  milk  "  is  classed  all  milk 
which  has  any  strong  smell  or  taste,  particularly  that 
in  which  strong  odors  are  developed  in  transporting, 
handling  and  manufacturing.  The  taints  which  thus 
develop  are  the  result  of  unusual  ferments,  and  are  to 
be  treated  as  such.  The  action  of  all  such  ferments 
accords  with  the  action  of  rennet,  both  in  the  coagu- 
lation of  milk  and  in  the  conversion  of  curd  into 
cheese.  Hence  less  rennet  is  needed  than  in  milk  not 
tainted,  and  less  should  be  used.  Tainted  milk  often 
coagulates  without  the  addition  of  any  rennet,  when 
entirely  sweet,  so  strong  is  the  coagulating  tendency 
of  taint.  Curds  thus  formed,  have  in  several  instances 
been  made  into  marketable  cheese  without  the  use  of 
rennet,  or  any  addition  whatever  to  the  milk. 

As  soon  as  the  curd  becomes  firm,  it  should  be  cut 
fine,  and  the  heat  put  on  at  the  earliest  moment  it  safely 
can  be,  with  a  view  to  the  earliest  separation  of  the 
whey  possible.  After  this  is  done,  two  courses  are 
open  to  the  operator.  One  is  to  keep  all  the  whey  on, 
warming  it  up  as  soon  as  it  will  be  safe,  to  98*  or  100', 
with  a  view  to  the  early  development  of  a  strong  acid 
to  neutralize  the  taint  and  silence  its  action  ;  the  other 
is  to  run  off  the  whey  at  the  very  earliest  moment 
practicable  after  reaching  the  maximum  heat,  packing 
in  the  vat,  and  beginning  cheddaring  at  once,  with  a 
view  to  carrying  off  the  taint  in  the  whey 

The  acid  method  is  the  one  generally  adopted.  It 
is  well  known  that  acidity  counteracts  all  the  taints 
which  occur  in  milk,  or  curd,  or  cheese,  and  hence, 
when  they  are  met  with  in  cheese  making,  the  usual 
course  is  to  keep  all  the  whey  on  and  under  a  favorable 


Factory  Cheese  Making,  j2g 

heat  for  souring,  till  a  sufficient  amount  of  acid  is  de- 
veloped to  overcome  the  taint.  In  extreme  cases, 
where  acid  cannot  be  developed  fast  enough  in  the 
whey,  sharp  vinegar  at  the  rate  of  a  pint  to  i,ooo  lbs. 
of  milk  is  added,  with  excellent  effect;  or  sour  whey 
is  used,  either  sparingly  with  the  rennet,  or  freely  in 
the  warm  whey  in  the  vat,  to  hasten  souring.  The 
operator  should  continue  the  curd  in  the  warm  whey 
till  the  acid  distinctly  predominates  over  the  taint,  and 
he  should  mark  well  the  difference  between  the  strong 
odor  which  becomes  manifest  in  the  whey  in  such 
cases,  just  before  the  acid  becomes  distinct,  or  he  will 
fall  short  of  developing  acid  enough  to  counteract  the 
taint. 

If  the  hot  iron  test  is  made  use  of  to  determine  when 
to  draw  the  whey  in  treating  tainted  curds  with  the 
acid  process,  the  whey  should  be  kept  on  till  the  curd, 
when  pulled  away  from  the  iron,  will  spin  out  into 
fine  long  threads,  exceeding  considerably  the  length 
required  for  ordinary  milk.  By  following  out  this 
course,  and  airing  and  cooling  the  curd  Avell,  a  cheese 
of  good  texture  and  of  fair  flavor  and  keeping  quality 
can  be  made,  when  the  milk  is  so  much  affected  as  to 
produce  a  floating  curd.  The  other  method — that  of 
getting  rid  of  the  taint  by  getting  rid  of  the  whey 
which  contains  it — has  been  for  several  years  carried 
out  successfully  by  Mr.  Farrington,  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  is  done  simply  by  ripening  the  curd  in  the  vat  as 
exclusively  as  possible  with  the  Cheddar  process,  by 
running  off  the  whey  just  as  soon  as  the  curd  will  pack. 
He  proceeds  upon  the  theory  that  the  taint  is  in  the 
whey,  and  reacts  upon  the  curd,  and  that  by  getting 
rid  of  the  whey,  he  gets  rid  of  the  taint,  leaving  the 
curd  unhurt  and  sound,     His  theory  seems  to  be  sup- 


J  JO  American  Dairying. 

ported  by  the  fact  that  the  cheese  he  has  made  in  this 
way,  when  ready  for  market,  can  hardly  be  distin- 
guished from  that  made  from  ordinary  milk,  though  it 
will  not  keep  so  long. 

Heating  milk  which  is  in  any  degree  tainted  to  130' 
purifies  it  entirely  of  all  offensive  odor,  and  if  at  once 
cooled  and  made  into  cheese  in  the  usual  way,  the  pro- 
duct will  be  the  same  as  from  milk  not  so  affected. 

"An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure." 
It  is  better  to  avoid  tainted  milk  than  to  struggle  with 
its  effects.  But  all  dairymen  have  not  learned  how  to 
do  it,  and  manufacturers  must  deal  with  it  in  the  best 
way  they  can. 

WORKING  SOUR  MILK. 

Milk  will  often  respond  to  an  acid  test  before  the 
presence  of  acidity  will  be  recognized  by  tasting.  Milk 
in  such  a  condition,  and  even  after  acidity  becomes 
sensible,  can  be  made  into  good  cheese.  The  course 
to  be  pursued  is  the  reverse  of  that  in  tainted  milk.  In 
tainted  milk  we  have  too  much  rennet  action — in  stale 
milk  we  have  too  much  acid  action.  In  the  former  we 
use  less  rennet  than  in  ordinary  milk;  in  the  latter  we 
use  more,  so  as  to  make  the  rennet  action,  at  least, 
equal  to  that  of  the  lactic  yeast.  Set  at  a  low  temper- 
ature— 78'  or  80* — so  that  the  changes  shall  not  be  too 
rapid  by  reason  of  the  increased  amount  of  rennet. 
The  curd  should  be  ready  to  cut  in  15  to  20  minutes 
from  the  time  of  applying  the  rennet,  and  should  be 
cut  fine  and  worked  as  rapidly  as  it  well  can  be.  Work 
low  all  the  way  through,  being  careful  not  to  raise  the 
heat  so  much  as  to  hurry  the  curd  faster  than  it  can  be 
taken   care  of.     The  more  acid,  the  less  heat.     The 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jji 

scalding  may  run  from  90°  down  to  80°,  or  kept  at  the 
degree  of  setting,  all  the  way  through,  if  distinctly 
sour.  It  is  best  to  heat  just  enough  to  hasten  the  pro- 
cess as  fast  as  it  can  be  attended  to.  When  it  is  about 
to  respond  to  the  hot  iron  test,  the  curd  should  be  at 
once  dipped,  and  as  soon  as  drained,  salted  and  put  to 
press  warm. 

Another  method  of  treating  milk  which  is  nearly  or 
quite  sour,  is  to  drain  off  the  whey  as  fast  as  formed, 
for  the  purpose,  as  in  the  case  of  tainted  milk,  of  get- 
ting the  acid  out  of  the  way  and  preventing  it  from 
affecting  the  curd.  Instead  of  warming  the  curd  by 
steam  or  hot  water,  under  or  around  the  vat,  it  may  be 
warmed  by  putting  water  of  the  desired  temperature 
directly  into  the  curd.  By  running  this  off  and  adding 
more  warm  water,  the  acid  can  be  nearly  all  washed 
out.  In  other  respects  it  may  be  treated  as  in  the  first 
method. 

By  salting  while  quite  warm,  the  salt  strikes  through 
the  curd  rapidly,  and  retards  the  action  of  the  acid,  and 
by  excluding  it  from  the  air  by  pressing,  it  is  stopped 
entirely,  while  the  rennet  action  goes  on  without 
hindrance.     In  this  way  good  results  are  secured. 

.WORKING  SKIMMILK  CHEESE. 

There  is  more  difficulty  in  makino:  good  cheese  from 
skimmilk  than  from  milk  in  any  other  condition.  The 
action  of  rennet  in  digesting  milk  into  cheese  is  sup- 
ported largely  by  the  fatty  matter  in  the  milk.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  lighter  fats,  for  the  more  vol- 
atile oil  there  can  be  retained  in  the  curd,  the  more 
energetic  is  the  action  of  the  rennet.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  coagulate  skimmilk,  but  when  the  light  flavoring 


JJ2  American  Dairying, 

oils  and  the  principal  part  of  the  fatty  matter  of  ttie 
milk,  are  carried  oif  with  the  cream,  the  action  of  the 
rennet  is  so  much  depressed  as  to  make  the  curing  of 
the  curd  into  cheese  very  difficult,  slow  and  imperfect. 
Unless  the  curing  process  can  be  properly  effected,  the 
product  is  worthless  for  human  food.  So  long  as 
casein  retains  its  curdy  condition,  it  is  insoluble  in 
water  or  weak  acids,  such  as  exist  in  the  stomach,  and 
of  course  indigestible.  Coagulated  casein  becomes 
soluble  by  the  aid  of  an  alkali,  or  by  the  change 
wrought  upon  it  in  the  curing  process.  It  is  then 
easily  digested,  and  becomes  a  nutritious  and  palatable 
food. 

It  is  the  misfortune  of  cheese  made  from  skimmilk 
that  it  so  far  fails  in  the  curing  process  as  to  retain 
its  curdy  nature,  and  remain  insoluble  and  indi- 
gestible, when  it  is  old  enough  to  become  cheese.  As 
usually  made  and  cured,  much  of  what  is  called  skim 
cheese  is  not  entitled  to  the  name  of  cheese,  for  i't  never 
fully  becomes  such — it  is  only  dried  curd,  or  partly 
curd  and  partly  cheese,  since  the  curing,  or  cheesing 
process,  is  but  partially  completed.  To  the  extent  to 
which  it  fails  in  curing,  it  is  insipid  and  unwholesome, 
because  of  being  insoluble,  it  is  indigestible.  By  lying 
in  the  stomach  long  enough  to  complete  the  cheesing 
process,  which  it  will  do  in  time,  it  can  be  digested ; 
but  by  such  a  detention  in  the  stomach  it  becomes  a 
source  of  irritation,  and  produces  constipation — a  re- 
sult which  does  not  occur  with  well  cured  cheese,  which, 
on  the  contrary,  is  rather  a  laxative. 

Since  skim  cheese  fails  in  curing,  and  since  it  is 
insipid,  worthless  and  unwholesome  to  the  extent  to 
which  it  falls  short  of  curing,  and  remains  tough  and 
curdy,  instead  of  being  mellow,  tender  and  salvy,  the 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jjj 

operator  who  attempts  its  manufacture  should  employ 
his  utmost  skill  to  stimulate  the  curing- process.  To 
this  end,  the  sweet  buttermilk  should  always  be  added, 
and  the  rennet  applied  at  about  80',  and  more  rennet 
used  than  with  unskimmed  milk.  The  curd  should  be 
cut  fine  and  worked  at  a  low  temperature,  the  same  as 
when  milk  is  sour,  with  a  view  to  keeping  the  digestive 
action  of  the  rennet  ahead  of  the  tendency  to  souring. 
Only  so  much  heat  should  be  applied  as  to  keep  the 
work  progressing,  and  if  a  curd  mill  is  used,  the  curd 
may  be  allowed  to  pack  in  the  whey ;  but,  if  not,  the 
curd  must  be  kept  stirred  and  kept  fine,  so  as  to  be 
handled  with  dispatch  when  it  is  ready  to  dip.  As 
soon  as  it  begins  to  respond  to  the  hot  iron  test,  dip, 
drain,  and  salt  expeditiously,  or  the  acid  will  advance 
too  much,  and  hurry  into  the  press  warm.  Use  a  little 
more  salt  than  with  whole  milk,  say  %  lb.  more  to  100 
lbs.  of  curd,  otherwise  putrefactive  fermentation  is 
liable  to  take  the  place  of  cheesing  when  full  skim- 
ming is  practiced.  If  when  taken  from  the  press  the 
curing  can  be  done  in  a  room  with  a  nearly  uniform 
temperature  of  75°,  a  wholesome  and  fairly  palatable 
cheese  will  result.  But  if  the  room  is  not  warm  enough, 
or  the  temperature  is  allowed  to  drop  and  raise  alter- 
nately, the  cheese  will  be  spoiled  in  curing.  Skim 
cheeses  are  much  more  difficult  to  cure  than  those  from 
whole  milk.  They  can  not  be  cured,  without  being 
injured,  in  a  room  in  which  the  mercury  feels  all  the 
changes  of  the  outside  air. 

If  a  curd  mill  is  used,  it  is  better  to  follow  the  Ched- 
dar process,  drawing  the  whey  as  soon  as  the  curd  will 
pack,  and  grinding  when  it  will  begin  to  respond  to 
the  hot  iron  test,  treating  otherwise  as  above. 

Where   half  skimming  is  practised,  the   treatment 


jj^  American  Dairyhig. 

should  be  between  that  for  full  skimming  and  whole 
milk  cheese. 


OLEOMARGARINE  CHEESE. 

To  remedy  the  defective  curing  occasioned  by  the 
loss  of  fatty  matter  in  the  cheese  from  removing  the 
cream,  H.  O.  Freeman,  of  Sherburne,  N.  Y.,  devised 
the  plan  of  supplying  the  loss  of  fat  by  artificially 
mixing  with  the  skimmilk,  just  before  adding  the  ren- 
net, some  clean  cheap  fat,  such  as  rancid  butter  puri- 
fied, or  oleomargarine  derived  from  beef  suet.  The 
latter  only  is  now  used.  The  fat  is  melted  preparatory 
to  mixing,  and  the  milk  warmed  up  to  about  94°,  and 
the  fat  thoroughly  mixed.  Rennet  enough  is  then 
applied  to  coagulate  the  milk  in  8  or  10  minutes,  and 
the  stirring  continued  till  the  curd  begins  to  form. 
Only  a  part  of  the  fat  will  be  retained  in  the  curd. 
Enough  is  added  so  that  the  curd  will  retain  1%  lbs. 
for  each  100  lbs.  of  milk  ;  the  rest,  rising  on  the  whey, 
is  skimmed  off  and  saved  for  use  again.  In  other 
respects  the  curd  is  worked  and  pressed  in  the  usual 
way.  The  fat  enclosed  in  the  curd  facilitates  the  cur- 
ing, and  gives  body  to  the  cheese.  When  skillfully 
made,  the  cheeses  appear  rich  and  well  flavored,  and 
are  often  mistaken  in  the  market  for  whole  milk 
cheese.  The  greatest  difficulty  in  manufacturing  is  to 
mix  the  fat  evenly. 

THE  ELLSWORTH  METHOD. 

Another  mode  of  treating  skimmilk,  first  practiced 
by  Mr.  John  T.  Ellsworth,  of  Barre,  Mass.,  and  hence 
known  as  the  Ellsworth  Method,  was  suggested  by  the 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  Jj^ 

author,  a  few  years  ago,  for  the  purpose  of  better  uti- 
lizing the  valuable  nitrogenous  elements  of  skimmilk, 
and  has  proved  very  satisfactory.  The  milk  to  be  made 
into  cheese  is  heated  to  135°  or  above,  while  new  and 
warm,  and  then  cooled  to  about  60°,  and  left  for  the 
cream  to  rise,  the  same  as  milk  not  heated,  and  skim- 
med when  36  or  48  hours  old,  as  is  customary  in 
creamery  practice.  The  cream  is  churned  sweet,  and 
a  part  of  the  skimmilk  is  churned  either  with  the  cream 
or  separately,  and  the  buttermilk  and  the  churned 
milk  are  mixed  with  the  skimmed  milk  and  made  into 
cheese  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  methods  above  de- 
tailed,— the  Cheddar  method  is  preferred.  Three 
points  are  gained  by  this  method:  first,  heating  the 
new  milk  makes  the  casein  when  coagulated  softer  and 
easier  to  cure  than  when  not  heated ;  second,  it  pre- 
vents the  buttermilk  from  imparting  that  peculiar 
flavor  to  the  cheese  which  is  imparted  to  it  by  the 
buttermilk  of  milk  not  so  heated,  and  it  promotes  as 
much  as  other  buttermilk  the  curing  of  the  cheese ; 
third,  the  churned  milk  promotes  the  curing  of  the 
cheese  the  same  as  buttermilk,  and  with  all  these  aids 
for  facilitating  the  curing  process,  the  operator  is  able 
to  make  a  superior  skimmilk  cheese,  and  to  cure  it  as 
rapidly  and  as  perfectly  as  whole  milk  cheese. 

The  large  amount  of  valuable  nitrogenous  matter  in 
the  milk  which  must  be  used  for  our  butter  supply,  and 
which  has  heretofore  only  furnished  food  for  swine,  or 
been  made  into  a  skim  cheese,  unfit  for  human  food, 
may,  by  this  method,  be  fully  utilized,  by  converting 
it  into  a  palatable  and  wholesome  product,  and  one 
which  finds  a  ready  sale  in  the  markets. 

But,  however  successful  we  may  be  in  moulding 
skimmilk  into  a  fine  flavored  and  digestible  cheese,  we 


jj6  American  Dairying. 

are  not  able  to  make  a  whole  milk  cheese  of  it.  The 
nutty  flavor  and  aroma  imparted  by  the  flavoring  oils 
which  go  with  the  cream,  and  the  richness  imparted 
by  the  cream  itself,  cannot  be  supplied  by  any  mode 
of  manufactuie.  But  we  may  justly  regard  it  as  a 
matter  of  much  gratification  that  we  are  able  to  trans- 
form into  a  palatable  and  wholesome  food  for  human 
use,  what  was  so  nearly  wasted  before. 

HAY  CHEESE. 

It  is  desirable  to  dispose  of  hay  cheese  as  early  as 
possible  to  prevent  bringing  it  into  competition  with 
better  goods.  To  this  end,  hay-fed  milk  should  be 
manufactured  to  cure  as  quickly  as  possible. 

To  facilitate  curing,  hay  milk,  like  skim-milk,  should 
be  manufactured  at  a  low  temperature,  and  with  a 
large  amount  of  rennet.  Curd  ripens  very  much 
faster  while  lying  warm  in  the  vat,  than  after  it  is 
taken  out.;  and  this  fact  may  be  taken  advantage  of 
when  it  is  desired  to  hurry  the  curing  of  the  cheese. 
By  being  careful  to  adapt  the  temperature  of  manu- 
facturing to  the  rennet  used,  and  by  digesting  the 
curd  as  long  as  possible  by  cheddaring,  or  by  lying  in 
the  whey,  the  curing  process  may  be  pretty  well 
advanced  before  it  goes  to  press.  An  extra  hour  in 
the  vat  will  ripen  the  curd  as  much  as  several  days  in 
the  curing  room.  It  requires  a  good  deal  of  skill  to 
make  and  cure  hay  cheese  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
when  that  skill  is  used,  a  good  cheese  and  one  that 
will  ripen  quickly,  sell  well  and  prove  satisfactory, 
may  be  made.  But  if  that  skill  is  not  available,  and 
a  poor  product— one  that  is  sour,  bitter,  tough,  or 
curdy,   is  to   go  into  the  market,  it  would  be  better 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  Jjy 

to  suspend  cheese-  making  till  grass  comes,  and  make 
butter  through  the  spring.  No  one  should  attempt 
to  make  both  butter  and  cheese  from  the  same  milk  in 
the  spring,  when  only  passable  cheese  can  be  made 
with  all  the  cream  worked  in. 

The  curing  of  early  cheese  in  factories  is  frequently 
defective,  being  too  slow,  and  the  heat  uneven.  The 
difference  in  the  nature  of  hay  curd  and  grass  curd 
should  be  noticed,  and  the  requisite  difference  in 
curing  made.  The  casein,  or  cheesy  matter  derived 
from  the  milk  of  cows  fed  on  full  grown  hay,  or  other 
well  matured  fodder,  is  harder  and  tougher  than  that 
from  the  milk  of  cows  fed  on  tender  grass,  and  it 
requires  more  curing  to  break  it  down  and  make  it 
salvy  and  rich.  It  takes  a  longer  time,  and  a  higher 
temperature  to  make  it  cure  with  sufficient  rapidity. 
Curd  made  from  grass  will  cure  as  fast  at  65  degrees, 
as  that  from  hay  at  75.  Ordinarily,  75  to  80  degrees 
is  about  the  right  temperature  for  hay  cheese  to  ripen 
in  with  the  best  results.  It  is  better  to  hurry  it  up 
as  quickly  as  is  compatible  with  safety.  It  should 
not  only  be  kept  as  warm  as  it  will  admit  of,  but  the 
heat  should  be  unremitting  night  and  day.  To  keep 
spring  cheese  hot  during  the  day,  and  cold  during  the 
night,  is  to  thwart  the  curing,  and  make  it  grow  sour 
and  bitter,  doing  injury  to  the  flavor  that  no  after- 
treatment  can  ever  overcome.  It  is  always  detrimental 
to  the  quality  of  cheese  to  be  subjected,  while  curing, 
to  wide  variations  in  temperature,  but  to  spring  cheese 
it  is  fatal. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  while  it  is  desirable 
to  dispose  of  hay  cheese  as  soon  as  may  be,  it  is  never 
good  policy  to  send  away  green  cheese.  It  is  some- 
times done  in  the  summer,  anticipating  that    it  will 


Jj8  American  Dairying. 

keep  on  curing,  and  be  all  right  by  the  time  it  reaches 
the  consumer.  It  never  cures,  however,  as  well  in  the 
box  as  in  the  curing  room.  But  this  practice  cannot 
be  safely  followed  with  hay  cheese,  for  the  moment  it 
leaves  the  shelves  and  gets  cold,  the  curing  stops,  and 
the  flavor  at  once  begins  to  depreciate,  growing  bitter 
and  sour,  and  otherwise  defective.  Hay  cheese  should, 
therefore,  never  be  allowed  to  leave  the  curing  room 
till  it  is  fit  to  go  upon  the  table. 

PRESSING  CHEESE. 

Curd  for  curing  into  cheese,  is  molded  and  pressed 
into  different  forms  and  sizes,  as  custom,  convenience, 
or  the  market,  dictates.  The  cylinder  form,  8  to  lo 
inches  high,  and  14  to  15  in  diameter,  is  now  gener- 
ally preferred  as  being  the  most  convenient  for  hand- 
ling and  desirable  for  shipping,  but  is  far  from  being 
the  most  convenient  form  for  presenting  to  consumers. 
Thinner  and  smaller  patterns  are  more  convenient  for 
cutting.  A  cheap  method  of  molding  and  curing 
cheeses  of  a  size  suitable  for  families  to  purchase 
whole,  is  a  desideratum,  which  when  satisfactorily 
filled,  w^ill  increase  largely  the  home  consumption  of 
cheese. 

In  molding  curd  into  cheese,  different  modes  have 
been,  and  are  still,  pursued.  Formerly  the  curd  was 
molded  into  the  desired  form  in  a  large  cloth  placed 
inside  of  the  hoop,  called  a  press-cloth.  When  the 
curd  had  been  pressed  long  enough  to  hold  together 
so  firmly  as  to  bear  handling,  the  press-cloth  was 
removed,  and  a  clean  one  applied,  and  the  cheese 
turned  and  placed  back  in  the  press  to  complete  the 
pressing.     This  done,  a  bandage  was  applied,  and  the 


Factory  Cheese  Making.  jjg 

cheese  placed  in  the  curing  room.  Now  when  press- 
cloths  are  used,  a  bandage  is  applied  in  the  place  of 
the  second  press-cloth,  and  the  top  and  bottom  of  the 
cheese  covered  with  a  circular  cloth  called  a  "  head- 
cloth  "  or  "cap-cloth,"  and  the  pressing  then  con- 
tinued till  done.  By  finishing  the  pressing  with  the 
bandage  on,  the  curd  is  forced  into  the  meshes  of  the 
cloth,  making  a  better  rind  to  the  cheese,  and  in  every- 
way a  better  job  than  when  the  bandage  is  applied 
offer  the  cheese  is  pressed.  In  some  factories  the  use 
of  the  first  press-cloth  is  avoided  by  placing  a  head- 
cloth  at  the  bottom  of  the  hoop,  and  a  ring  of  rubber, 
wood,  or  rope,  around  the  inner  edge  of  the  hoop  to 
keep  the  curd  from  crowding  out  under  the  edge  of 
the  hoop,  and  a  similar  cloth  and  ring  on  the  top  of 
the  curd,  and  then  applying  the  follower  and  pressing 
till  the  curd  is  firm  enough  to  bandage,  when  the 
bandage  is  applied,  and  the  cheese  turned,  and  the 
pressing  finished.  It  is  an  objection  to  this  mode  of 
beginning  the  pressing  that,  if  cooled  as  much  as  is 
desirable  before  pressing,  the  surface  of  the  curd  does 
not  unite  as  perfectly  when  in  contact  with  wood  or 
iron,  as  when  covered  with  cloth.  Hence  this  practice 
is  limited.  The  great  majority  of  factorymen  now 
place  the  bandage  inside  of  the  hoop,  and  fill  the  curd 
into  the  bandage,  and  thus  mold  the  cheese  in  the 
bandage  at  the  beginning  of  the  pressing. 

When  cheeses  are  pressed  singly,  the  bandage  is 
placed  inside  of  the  hoop,  and  held  there  by  means  of 
a  cylindrical  tin  form  with  a  flaring  band  upon  one 
end.  The  cylindrical  part  is  long  enough  to  reach 
the  bottom  of  the  hoop,  and  just  large  enough  to  fill 
it.  The  bandage,  except  an  inch  and  a  half  or  so  of 
one  end,  is  stretched  over  the  cylindrical  part  of  this 


J^o  American  Dairying. 

form,  and  the  loose  end  of  the  bandage  turned  inside ; 
a  cap-cloth  is  placed  over  the  end  of  the  form,  which 
is  then  crowded  to  the  bottom  of  the  hoop.  The  loose 
end  of  the  bandage  is  adjusted  inward  upon  the  cap- 
cloth,  and  the  form  filled  with  curd,  which  resting 
upon  the  inturned  end  of  the  bandage  holds  it  in 
place  while  the  form  is  withdrawn,  leaving  the  curd, 
all  except  the  upper  part  of  it,  within  the  bandage. 

When  the  curd  has  been  pressed  down  so  as  to  hold 
together,  the  hoop  is  removed,  the  bandage  adjusted 
upon  the  upper  end  of  the  cheese,  which  is  now  turned 
upside  down,  and  power  again  applied  till  the  press- 
ing is  done.  When  the  gang  press  is  used,  the  band- 
age is  held  in  place  by  a  metallic  band  coiled  inside  of 
the  hoop  in  such  a  way  as  to  hold  up  the  upper  end  of 
the  bandage  till  the  curd  is  pressed  down  to  a  solid 
form,  when  the  pressure  is  released,  the  end  of  the 
bandage  adjusted,  and  the  power  applied  again  without 
turning  the  cheese. 

For  factories,  the  single  screw  press  is  fast  going 
out  of  use,  and  the  gang  press,  of  which  there  are  two 
patterns,  (Fraser's  and  Beach's,)  are  taking  its 
place. 

The  time  of  pressing  is  usually  about  i8  hours,  and 
the  force  applied  from  two  to  ten  tons,  according  to 
the  means  of  escape  for  whey,  and  the  condition  of 
the  curd.  Cold  curd  requires  more  pressure  than 
warm,  aud  curds  with  smooth  surfaces,  more  than 
those  with  rough  and  jagged  ones.  Curd  which  has 
been  made  fine  by  slicing,  requires  more  pressure  to 
make  the  smooth  surfaces  join  firmly,  than  that  which 
has  been  broken  by  hand,  or  passed  through  a  crush- 
ing mill. 


Factory  Cheese  Making,  j^i 

When  placed  in  the  curing  room,  cheese  should 
stand  till  the  surface  becomes  dry,  and  then  be  rubbed 
with  whey  butter  or  some  similar  grease,  to  prevent 
the  surface  from  checking  and  cracking,  and  needless 
shrinkage  by  a  too  rapid  escape  of  moisture.  If  the 
air  in  the  room  is  very  dry,  an  occasional  greasing 
will  be  necessary,  or  the  surface  will  become  too  dry. 
If  the  air  is  sufficiently  moist,  a  daily  turning  and 
rubbing  will  only  be  needed.  If  too  moist,  so  as  to 
occasion  much  molding,  the  air  should  be  changed  by 
ventilation,  and  if  necessary,  dried  by  a  fire.  Cheese 
cures  so  much  better  in  a  moist  than  in  a  dry  atmos- 
phere, it  is  better  to  let  the  air  be  as  moist  as  it  can  be, 
and  keep  the  cheese  decent  on  account  of  mold. 
When  not  made  just  right,  exudations  sometimes 
accumulate  on  the  surface,  and  make  cheese  appear 
rough  and  unco^nely.  To  remove  this,  wash  and  rub 
occasionally  with  a  weak  ley  made  with  water  and 
potash,  or  by  leaching  a  few  wood  ashes.  The  ley 
will  saponify  the  grease,  and  soften  the  exudations, 
and  if  strong  enough,  the  rind  of  the  cheese  also,  and 
by  repeated  rubbing,  will  smooth  and  polish  the  sur- 
face, and  fill  up  any  cracks  or  checks  which  may 
chance  to  exist,  thus  guarding  against  the  intrusion 
of  flies.  As  the  cheese-fly  is  averse  to  depositing 
its  eggs  in  alkaline  matter,  washing  the  surface  of 
cheeses  with  ley  is  the  best  known  protecti(^n  against 
that  sometimes  troublesome  insect.  When  used  for 
this  purpose,  the  ley  may  be  stronger. 

As  the  character  of  the  cheesing  process  is  varied 
by  every  variation  in  temperature  and  hygrometric 
condition  of  the  room,  it  is  important  that  the  care 
taker  should  use  every  effort  to  keep  the  air  in  his 
cheese  room   even   and  in  the  proper   condition   in 


J ^2  American  Dairying. 

respect  to  the  temperature  and  moisture  required  for 
properly  curing  the  cheese  under  his  charge.  If  too 
hot  and  dry,  sprinlvle  the  floor  often.  If  too  cold  or 
damp,  build  a  fire,  no  matter  when  the  occasion  may 
occur.  It  is  a  common  occurrence  to  meet  with  cheese 
in  the  ill-constructed  curing  rooms  of  the  country, 
which  have  had  their  texture  injured,  and  their  flavor 
made  insipid  by  exposure  to  an  extreme  heat,  which  a 
frequent  sprinkling  of  water  upon  the  floor  would 
have  kept  down  ;  and  others  which,  while  green,  have 
been  made  bitter,  by  being  for  a  few  days  a  little  too 
cold,  which  might  have  been  easily  avoided  by  build- 
ing a  few  fires  in  the  room. 

BOXING  CHEESE  FOR  MARKET. 

For  protecting  cheese  properly,  the  package  should 
be  strong,  and  fit  the  cheese  snugly,  but  not  so  snugly 
that  it  will  not  readily  come  out  if  turned  upside  down. 
Both  sides  of  the  cheese  should  be  protected  with  a 
scale-board,  and  loose  covers  avoided,  and  the  sides 
trimmed  down  till  the  cover  will  touch  the  cheese. 
Very  dry  boxes  absorb  moisture  from  the  cheese,  and 
make  a  difference  between  factory  and  city  weight. 
The  boxes  before  receiving  the  cheese  should  be  made 
damp  enough  to  prevent  this  absorption.  The  cheese 
will  be  the  better  for  it,  and  the  boxes  will  be  less 
liable  to  get  split  and  broken,  than  if  very  dry. 

FARM  DAIRY  CHEESE  MAKING. 

Where  cheese  is  made  in  farm  dairies,  the  single 
screw  press  and  the  self-heating  vat  will  be  found 
most  convenient.     The  buildings  and  apparatus  will 


Farm  Dairy  Cheese  Making.  j^^j 

of  course,  be  reduced  in  size,  but  when  enough  cheese 
is  made  upon  farms  for  purposes  of  marketing,  the 
same  general  principles  and  practices  will  apply  which 
have  been  described  for  factories,  and  need  not  be 
again  repeated. 

For  those  who  make  cheese  from  only  a  few  cows 
for  home  use,  and  are  not  provided  with  a  complete 
set  ot  apparatus,  a  few  words  may  be  appropriate. 

For  making  cheese  under  any  circumstances,  a  few 
things  are  absolutely  necessary.  One  must  have  a 
vessel  large  enough  to  hold  the  milk.  It  may  be  any 
clean  tub,  boiler,  or  kettle.  A  wooden  tub  is  best, 
because  it  will  lose  the  least  heat  while  standing. 
There  must  be  means  for  warming,  which  can  be  sup- 
plied by  a  cook  stove.  Rennet  for  coagulating  the 
milk  must  be  provided  and  soaked  beforehand.  A 
strong  hoop  for  pressing  the  curd,  with  a  capacity  of 
at  least  6  cubic  inches  for  every  quart  of  milk  used, 
and  power  for  pressing  equal  to  at  least  the  weight  of 
a  ton.  These  being  provided,  warm  the  milk  in  any 
convenient  way  without  burning,  to  about  84  degrees, 
and  add  rennet  enough  to  have  it  begin  to  curdle  in 
15  minutes,  and  cover  the  milk  to  keep  it  from  cool- 
ing. The  quantity  of  rennet  to  use  must  be  found  by 
trial.  A  good  rennet  well  soaked  and  rubbed,  in  time 
will  curdle  about  2,000  quarts  of  milk,  but  there  is  so 
much  variation  in  their  strength,  that  only  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  quantity  required,  can  be  made.  When 
the  curd  has  become  so  hard  as  to  cleave  before  the 
finger  when  passed  through  it,  it  should  be  cut  with  a 
blade  that  will  reach  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  into 
columns  an  inch  or  so  square,  and  then  covered  again 
to  let  the  whey  separate.  After  it  has  stood  15  or  20 
minutes,  the  whey  which  can  be  conveniently  removed, 


344-  American   Dairying. 

may  be  dipped  off,  and  the  curd  carefully  broken  with 
the  hands  into  pieces  of  the  size  of  chestnuts,  or  even 
finer.  When  this  is  done,  the  whey  which  has  been 
dipped  off,  or  what  is  better,  an  equal  bulk  of  water, 
heated  to  150  degrees,  may  be  turned  into  the  curd 
and  stirred  enough  to  make  all  parts  of  the  curd  warm 
up  alike.  The  curd  should  be  again  covered  to  prevent 
cooling,  and  left  standing  15  or  20  minutes,  or  as  long 
as  it  can  be  without  sticking  firmly  together,  when  the 
whey  may  be  again  dipped  off,  the  curd  broken  up 
fine  again,  and  more  hot  whey  or  water  turned  on  and 
mixed  evenly  with  the  curd  by  gently  stirring,  so  as 
not  to  rile  the  whey  and  waste  the  richness  of  the 
curd.  Cover  the  curd  again,  and  repeat  the  operation 
till  the  mass  is  raised  to  blood  heat.  The  stirring 
should  be  repeated  often  enough  to  prevent  the  pieces 
of  curd  from  adhering,  and  the  whole  covered  and 
left  standing  for  the  curd  to  harden.  When  it  has 
stood  so  long  as  to  become  hard  enough  to  squeak 
between  the  teeth,  or  spring  apart  readily  when 
pressed  in  the  hand,  or  what  is  better,  to  respond  to 
the  hot  iron  test,  described  on  a  subsequent  page,  the 
whey  may  be  at  once  dipped  off,  and  the  curd  drained 
on  a  strainer-cloth  laid  over  something  which  will 
allow  the  whey  to  run  away  steadily,  like  a  large 
sieve  or  a  basket.  When  the  curd  has  been  stirred 
till  it  is  freed  from  whey,  and  becomes  a  little  cool 
and  the  large  lumps  broken  up  fine  so  it  will  all 
receive  salt  about  alike,  salt  at  the  rate  of  one  ounce 
for  each  to  quarts  of  milk.  Mix  the  salt  thoroughly 
through  the  curd,  and  then  put  to  press.  As  soon  as 
the  curd  is  well  stuck  together  so  it  can  be  handled 
safely,  remove  it  from  the  press,  put  on  a  new  press 
cloth,  turn  the  under  side  up,  fold  the   cloth  evenly 


Farm  Dairy   Cheese  Making.  ^^5 

over  it,  and  press  again  till  the  press  is  wanted  for  the 
next  day's  cheese.  Upon  taking  it  from  the  press,  let 
it  stand  an  hour  or  two  till  it  becomes  dry,  then  rub 
it  over  with  some  soft  grease,  and  turn  and  rub  daily 
till  it  is  cured,  which  will  be  from  30  to  60  days. 
On  small  cheese  for  home  use,  no  bandage  will  be 
required.  The  surface  must  be  greased  often  enougli 
to  keep  it  from  drying  and  checking.  In  making 
small  cheese  for  home  use,  the  press,  though  desirable, 
is  not  an  absolute  necessity.  If  a  curd  is  properly 
made,  it  will  form  itself  into  a  cheese  of  good  texture 
by  its  own  weight.  In  molding  a  cheese  without 
pressing,  the  hoop  should  be  made  of  perforated  tin, 
so  the  whey  can  readily  escape,  and  should  have  a 
cover  of  the  same  material  for  its  top  and  bottom, 
shutting  over  and  outside  of  the  tin  like  the  cover  of 
a  pill  box,  and  should  be  only  just  about  large  enough 
to  hold  the  curd  to  be  molded.  A  cover  is  placed 
upon  the  lower  end  of  the  hoop,  the  warm  curd  filled 
in,  and  the  cover  put  on  the  upper  end,  and  set  on 
any  level  foundation.  After  standing  a  few  minutes, 
the  hoop  is  turned  quickly  upon  the  other  end,  the 
curd  slides  down  and  makes  a  smooth  surface  on 
what  was  at  first  the  upper  end.  By  turning  the  hoop 
a  few  times  while  warm,  both  ends  get  an  even  sur- 
face, and  then,  by  standing  still,  the  curd  will  perma- 
nently adhere  and  remain  firm  when  taken  from  the 
hoop.  To  succeed  well  in  molding  cheese  without 
pressing,  the  curd  should  be  taken  from  the  whey  a 
little  sooner  than  otherwise,  and  be  quickly  drained 
and  salted  and  put  into  the  hoop  quite  warm.  Cold 
curd  will  not  adhere  without  pressing. 


APPENDIX 


THE  HOT  IRON  TEST. 

This  test  is  used  to  determine  when  curd  is  sufficiently  matured 
for  pressing.  It  originated  in  1845  with  L.  M.  Norton,  of  Goshen, 
Conn.,  who  was  also  the  originator  of  pineapple  cheese,  and  was 
for  many  years  kept  a  secret.  After  awhile  it  became  public  and  is 
now  extensively  used,  and  is  the  most  accurate  and  reliable  guide 
known  for  determining  the  precise  stage  in  the  ripening  of  curd 
at  which  it  is  proper  to  press  it. 

To  apply  the  test,  have  an  iron  just  hot  enough  to  make  water 
simmer  when  dropped  upon  it.  Make  a  plug  of  curd  and  apply 
one  end  of  it  to  the  hot  iron.  If  the  curd  is  too  immature  it  will 
not  adhere  to  the  iron  ;  if  it  is  just  right  it  will  stick  to  the  iron, 
and  when  pulled  away  will  draw  out  in  threads  from  Y^  to  "^l  of 
an  inch  long.  If  too  far  advanced  it  will  string  out  in  very  fine 
and  long  threads. 


TESTING  MILK  AT  FACTORIES. 

As  a  protection  against  fraud  in  diluting  or  adulterating  milk, 
every  factoryman  should  be  provided  with  a  set  of  graduated 
glass  tubes,  which  he  can  daily,  or  at  short  intervals,  fill  with  milk 
from  his  different  patrons,  and  observe  and  record  the  per  cent,  of 
cream  which  rises  upon  the  milk  in  each.  So  long  as  the  milk  of 
every  patron  shows  a  fair  proportion  of  cream,  he  need  not  make 
any  further  tests.  Should  the  milk  of  anyone  show  a  deficiency 
of  cream,  tests  should  made  to  determine  whether  it  has  been 
tampered  with.  To  do  this  take  a  sample  of  milk  from  one  or 
more  herds  which  is  known  to  be  pure,  and  reduce  it  to  the  tem- 
perature at  which  the  lactometer  is  made  to  be  used,  and  note 
whether  the  lactometer  sinks  in  it  to  the  point  (P),  which  denotes 
pure  milk.  Do  the  same  with  the  milk  which  showed  a  deficiency 
of  cream,  and  note  whether  the  point  on  the  stem  of  the  lactome- 
ter which  stood  at  the  surface  in  pure  milk,  sinks,  or  rises  above 


Appendix. 


347 


the  surface  of  the  milk  being  tested.  If  the  point  P  rises  above 
the  surface,  it  may  be  considered  pure,  because  pure  milk  which 
is  deficient  in  cream,  is  heavier  than  pure  milk  rich  in  cream.  If 
it  sinks  below  the  surface,  dilution  may  be  predicted,  because  it 
is  lighter  instead  of  heavier  than  pure  milk.  Now  take  two  per 
cent,  glasses  and  fill  one  to  the  top  graduated  marks  with  pure 
milk,  and  the  other  with  the  suspected  milk,  and  when  the 
cream  has  fully  raised  on  both,  remove  it,  and  insert  the  lactome- 
ter in  the  skim-milk  in  each,  and  note  exactly  how  far  it  sinks  in 
each,  and  make  a  record  of  the  result,  for  future  use,  if  it  should 
be  wanted.  If  it  sinks  lower  in  the  suspected  milk  than  in  the 
pure,  turn  water  into  the  pure  milk  till  the  lactometer  sinks  to  the 
same  point  it  did  in  the  suspected  milk,  and  note  the  per  cent,  of 
water  added.  The  per  cent,  of  water  added,  will  show  the  per 
cent,  of  dilution. 


RENNET. 


In  its  general  signification,  ren- 
net applies  to  the  preserved 
stomach  of  any  young  quadruped. 
As  used  by  dairymen  in  the  United 
States,  the  term  signifies  the  4th 
division  of  the  stomach  of  the  suck- 
ing calf.  If  the  stomach  of  any 
other  animal  is  meant,  the  name 
of  the  animal  is  added,  as  pig's 
rennet,  lamb's  rennet,  &c.  The 
same  word  is  also  used  to  signify 
the  liquid  in  which  the  stomach  has 
been  steeped.  The  4th  division  or 
part  of  the  stomach  used  for  coagu- 
lating m'lk,  is  the  one  next  to  the 
small  intestines.  The  points  for 
severing  it  are  indicated  by  the 
letters  a-b. 

The  coagulating  power  of  ren- 
nets varies  in  strength  and  quality 
with  the  age,  health  and  habits  of 
the  animals  from  which  they  are 
taken.  They  are  usually  in  their 
best  condition  when  the  calves  are 
from  five  to  ten  days  old,  but  they  do  not  vary  much  in  strength 
so  long  as  the  calves  live  entirely  on  milk.  As  soon  as  they 
begin  to  live  upon  solid  food,  the  strength  of  their  stomachs, 
as  rennets,  begins  to  abate.  The  stomachs  of  calves  five  days  old 
are  generally  preferred  by  dairymen  to  those  older  or  younger. 
To  obtain  the  best  rennets,  the  calves  should  be  allowed  to  suck 


J ^8  American  Dairying, 

a  moderate  meal  i8  or  20  hours  before  killing.  It  is  a  good  way 
to  give  the  last  meal  at  night,  and  kill  the  next  day  near  noon. 
Some  let  them  go  24  hours,  and  even  longer,  and  the  rennets  are 
the  stronger  for  so  doing  ;  but  in  going  too  long  without  eating, 
the  stomach  becomes  inflamed  and  congested  with  blood,  giving 
them  a  dark,  reddish  appearance,  and  the  disturbed  condition 
thus  occasioned,  is  carried  with  the  steepings  of  the  rennet  into 
the  cheese,  and  affects  it  unfavorably.  The  calves  should  live 
till  the  curd  from  their  last  meal  is  nearly  dissolved,  but  no 
longer.  As  the  curd  disappears,  the  coagulating  agent  accumu- 
lates, not  in  the  juices  of  the  stomach,  as  might  be  supposed,  but 
is  deposited  on  the  inside  of  the  stomach,  forming  a  delicate 
coating,  faintly  flesh  colored  and  very  tender,  which  breaks  off  in 
thin,  flocculent  scales  upon  slight  friction.  As  this  coating  con- 
tains the  concentrated  strength  of  the  rennet,  it  is  desirable  to 
preserve  as  much  of  it  as  possible.  To  this  end,  the  sack,  when 
taken  from  the  animal,  should  be  handled  with  great  care.  The 
contents  should  be  emptied  out  carefully,  sack  turned  inside  out, 
and  any  specks  of  dirt  or  hairs  that  may  appear  on  it,  picked  off. 
If  further  cleansing  is  necessary,  it  may  be  wiped  with  a  moist 
cloth,  or  very  carefully  rinsed  by  laying  it  in  a  dish  of  water  and 
moving  it  gently.  Water  should  not  be  poured  upon  it.  When 
sufficiently  cleansed  and  lightly  salted,  it  is  ready  for  drying, 
which  may  be  done  in  any  convenient  way,  so  that  it  shall  not 
waste  by  dripping,  nor  injure  by  tainting.  It  may  be  stretched 
on  a  crotched  limb,  or  bow  of  splint,  its  ends  may  be  tied  and  in- 
flated, or  it  may  be  cut  open  and  laid  out  on  a  dry  board,  which 
will  aid  in  drying  by  absorbing  its  moisture.  These  modes  of 
preserving  are  very  much  better  than  salting  in  a  pickle,  or  filling 
with  salt.  If  exposed  10  much  heat,  rennets  lose  strength  quickly. 
But  they  are  improved  by  freezing  and  thawing,  and  also  by  age, 
if  kept  open  to  the  air.  Rennets  should  not  be  used  the  same 
season  they  are  saved.  They  are  very  much  better  for  a  year's 
age  if  they  are  kept  open  to  the  air  so  that  the  strong  odor  com- 
mon to  green  rennets  can  have  time  to  be  carried  away.  Their 
strength  also  increases  with  age  for  a  season  or  two  at  least. 
When  prepared  for  use,  they  may  be  steeped  in  brine  or  whey. 
If  in  brine,  it  should  be  no  stronger  than  is  necessary  to  protect 
them  against  tainting,  as  much  salt  is  detrimental  to  their  action. 
If  the  water  is  not  pure,  it  should  be  boiled  before  using.  Whe}', 
both  sweet  and  sour,  is  in  common  use.  It  should  always  be 
boiled  to  prevent  carrying  taints  into  the  cheese,  which  are 
I  always  developing  in  the  whey  as  now  made  in  factories.  Sweet 
whey  has  a  fine  effect  upon  the  cheese,  but  sour  whey  is  the  best 
preservative,  and  if  decidedly  sour,  is  a  better  antiseptic  than 
salt.  Of  whatever  liquid  is  used,  two  quarts  are  enough  for  each 
rennet.  Stone  or  earthen  jars  are  the  best  vessels  to  prepare 
them  in,  and  the  preparation  should  be  carefully  covered,  as 
liquid  rennet  soon  loses  its  strength  by  exposure  to  light. 

The  first  strength  which  soaks  from  the  veils  is  better  than  the 


Appendix.  j^g 

last.  It  is  not  only  stronger,  but  it  acts  more  vigorously  upon 
the  cream,  so  that  it  is  better  retained  in  the  curd.  It  is  very 
desirable  to  distribute  the  first  soakings  of  the  stomach  through 
the  whole  of  the  steepings,  and  to  have  them  of  uniform  strength 
from  first  to  last,  to  secure  uniform  results  in  curding.  To  secure 
this,  two  or  more  jars  or  casks  will  be  necessary.  Three  are 
preferable.  Fill  a  jar  or  cask  with  brine  or  whey,  as  before  di- 
rected, and  then  take  as  many  rennets  as  would  last  15  or  20  days, 
and  cut  them  open,  (some  cut  them  in  small  pieces),  tie  them  in  a 
sack  made  of  bandage  cloth,  and  put  them  to  soak  in  advance, 
for  a  batch  to  begin  with,  stirring  and  rubbing  them  every  day,  or 
oftener.  Upon  beginning  to  use  this,  put  a  second  batch  soaking 
in  a  second  vessel  in  the  same  way,  and  take  the  sack  from  the 
first  vessel  and  put  in  with  it,  marking  it  so  it  can  be  dis- 
tinguished. As  the  strength  of  the  second  vessel  may  be  different 
from  that  of  the  first,  to  prevent  making  any  mishap  on  that 
account,  begin  using  some  of  the  second  before  the  first  is 
exhausted,  mixing  more  and  more  of  the  second  with  less  of  the 
first.  In  this  way  the  strength  in  each  jar  will  be  readily  known, 
and  no  mistake  will  be  made  in  its  use.  Upon  beginning  to  use 
from  the  second  jar,  take  out  the  sack  that  was  in  the  first,  and 
after  rinsing  its  contents,  throw  them  away,  fill  it  with  new 
rennets,  put  to  soak  in  a  third  jar,  take  the  other  sack  from  the 
second  jar  and  put  with  it,  and  so  continue  through  the  season, 
always  stirring  the  liquid  before  using.  Careful  inspection  should 
be  made  in  selecting  rennets,  to  see  that  none  that  are  tainted,  or 
in  any  way  objectionable,  get  into  the  jars  to  injure  the  cheese. 
All  dark  colored  or  strong  smelling  ones  should  be  avoided.  In 
using  the  Bavarian  rennets,  the  thick  ends  made  by  tying,  are 
often  tainted  and  should  be  trimmed  off,  and  in  American  and 
Irish  rennets,  the  small  end  of  the  stomach  is  often  left  too  long, 
and  becomes  objectionable  by  reason  of  bad  odors  and  filth,  and 
had  better  be  cut  off.  The  action  of  the  extreme  end  of  the 
stomach  is  always  very  feeble,  and  of  questionable  utility  at  any 
time,  and  should  never  be  used  unless  in  perfect  order.  There 
is  no  good  reason  why  the  active  agent  in  rennet  may  not  be 
extracted  cheaply,  and  in  a  state  of  perfect  purity  and  freedom 
from  the  objectionable  animal  matter  which  now  always  goes 
with  it,  and  in  a  concentrated  state  and  of  uniform  strength. 
Such  preparations  are  now  made  in  Denmark  and  Switzerland, 
and  must  soon  be  brought  into  use  in  this  country,  but  until  some 
enterprising  chemist  shall  discover  a  cheap  method  of  making  an 
■  extract  that  will  supply  this  demand,  we  must  use  the  native 
stomach,  and  I  give  the  best  methods  of  utilising  it,  till  its 
strength  can  be  furnished  in  a  better  form. 


^jO  American  Dairying, 


PREPARING   COLORING  FOR  CHEESE  AND 
BUTTER. 

To  prepare  annattoine,  take  equal  weights  of  annattoine,  pure 
potash  and  sal  soda,  and  dissolve  each  separately  in  four  times 
its  weight  of  water.  When  fully  dissolved,  mix  all  together  and 
let  it  stand  four  or  five  days  for  the  alkali  to  cut  the  annattoine, 
stirring  occasionally.  It  will  then  be  ready  for  use.  It  is  best 
kept  in  earthen  jars.  For  cheese,  h  pint  to  i,ooo  lbs  of  milk  give 
a  deep  golden  color.  For  butter,  i  tablespoonful  to  6  quarts 
of  cream  will  give  a  deep  color  to  pale  butter.  For  either  cheese 
or  butter,  find  by  trial,  exactly  the  quantity  required  to  produce 
the  desired  hue. 

TO  PREPARE  BASKET  ANNATTO. 

Make  a  strong  ley  by  dissolving  potash  in  water,  and  put  in  as 
much  annatto  as  the  ley  will  dissolve.  Boil  the  solution  and  set 
by  for  the  sediment  to  settle.  Turn  off  the  pure  liquid  for  use. 
The  sediment  may  be  washed  with  ley,  and  the  clear  liquid  used. 
Find  by  trial,  the  amount  of  liquid  required  to  give  the  desired 
color.  Basket  annatto  varies  too  much  to  admit  of  precise 
directions. 

Annatto  seed  may  be  prepared  in  a  similar  way.  The  seed 
should  be  several  times  rinsed  in  ley  or  hot  water  to  extract  all 
the  coloring. 


BOARDS  OF  TRADE. 

Associated  dairying  naturally  led  to  associated  marketing, 
where  salesmen  could  become  posted  as  to  the  market  value  of 
thefr  produetions,  and  thereby  obtain  better  prices  than  by  indi- 
vidual effort;  consequendy  "  Boards  of  Trade,"  or  "Sale  Days" 
became  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  dairymen. 

The  first  effort  in  this  direction  was  made  in  1870  by  T.  D. 
Curtis,  then  editor  of  the  Utica  Herald,  who  advocated  the  organi- 
zation of  such  Boards,  in  the  Herald,  and  in  a  paper  read  before 
the  New  York  Farmers'  Club,  December  i6th  of  that  year.  Mr. 
C.  issued  the  first  call  for  establishing  a  local  market,  in  the 
spring  of  1871.  A  week  subsequent  to  the  call  of  Mr.  C,  a 
similar  one  was  issued  at  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  calling  for  an  earlier 
meeting,  and  at  that  meeting  the  first  Dairymen's  Board  of  Trade 
was  established,  which  is  now  known  as  the  N.  Y.  State  Dairy- 
men's Association  and  Board  of  Trade.  The  call  first  issued 
matured  a  week  later,  and  in  obedience  to  it,  was  formed  the 
National  Dairymen's  Club,  now  known  as  the  Utica  Dairymen's 
Board  of  Trade.     The  fruit  of  this  enterprise  thus  inaugurated 


Appendix.  j^i 

has  resulted  in  great  good  to  dairymen,  and  nnmerous  institu- 
tions of  a  similar  kind  have  since  been  established.  In  view  of 
the  importance  and  rapid  multiplication  of  such  Boards,  I  insert 
a  blank  form  to  aid  in  their  organization  : 

RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  FOR  A  BOARD  OF  TRADBt 

1st.    The  payment  of  $5  to  the  Treasurer  shall  constitute  a 

membership  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the for 

one  year. 

2d.  Members  only  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the 
salesroom. 

3d.  There  shall  be  a  register  kept  and  a  bulletin  board 
arranged  in  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  room,  for  posting  tele- 
grams and  other  information  of  interest  received  from  other 
markets,  and  to  which  register  and  board  all  members  shall  be 
entitled  to  free  access.  Also  all  members  shall  have  the  privilege 
of  posting  upon  said  register  a  notice  of  any  dairy  or  other  pro- 
duce they  may  have  for  sale. 

4th.  There  shall  be  an  officer  appointed  by  the  Club,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  procure  telegrams  and  other  information 
deemed  necessary  by  the  Club  for  the  bulletin  board  ;  to  procure 
and  issue  tickets  of  membership  ;  and  to  have  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  Salesroom. 

5th.  There  shall  be  a  Board  of  Arbitration  constituted  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  all  differences  which  may  arise  from  time  to 
time  between  buyers  and  sellers,  and  it  is  an  express  understand- 
ing that  the  decision  of  such  Arbitration  Committee  shall  be  final. 
The  said  Board  of  Arbitration  shall  be  chosen  and  constituted 
as  follows  :  In  case  of  difference  between  two  parties  or  interests, 
the  said  parties  or  interests  shall  each  choose  one  member  of  the 
Board,  and  the  two  members  thus  chosen  shall  select  a  third,  and 
these  three  shall  constitute  the  Board  of  Arbitration,  and  have 
appropriate  jurisdiction. 

6th.  All  bargains  between  members  made  at  the  Salesroom  or 
elsewhere,  verbally  or  otherwise,  shall  be  considered  binding,  and 
a  failure  of  either  party  to  perform  his  or  their  part  shall  be  con- 
sidered sufficient  cause  for  expulsion  from  the  Club  and  Sales- 
room. 

7th.  For  avoiding  disputes  respecting  short  weights,  it  is 
agreed  that  where  a  discrepancy  is  found  in  the  weights  of  butter 
or  cheese  on  arrival  in  market,  a  legally  appointed  weighmaster's 
certificate  of  such  discrepancy,  with  expense  of  certificate  attached, 
shall  be  considered  a  standard  to  settle  b3^ 

8th.  It  is  essential,  that  each  of  the  foregoing  rules  be  strictly 
observed  by  each  member  of  the  Club,  and  any  violation  of  such 
rules  shall  be  considered  a  sufficient  reason  for  appointing  a  com- 
mittee to  look  into  the  facts,  and  report  what  action,  in  their 
opinion,  ought  to  be  taken  by  the  Club  to  avoid  a  repetition  of 
the  same. 


j^2  American   Dairying. 

gth.  It  is  understood  that  where  a  factory  has  more  than  one 
salesman,  either  one  or  all  of  said  salesmen  shall  be  admitted  on 
presenting  the  factory's  ticket  of  membership,  and  that  a  buyer 
and  his  agent  may  be  admitted  on  one  ticket,  whether  owned  by 
the  principal  or  the  agent. 

loth.  It  shall  be  proper  for  a  member  of  this  Board  to  be 
accompanied,  when  admitted  to  the  Salesroom,  by  a  neighbor  or 
friend  who  is  not  interested  in  buying  or  selling,  without  additional 
charge  ;  but  it  is  understood  that  this  is  a  matter  of  courtesy,  and 
any  violation  of  good  faith  will  be  deemed  a  breach  of  the  rules 
of  the  Board. 

nth.  The  price  of  single  admission  to  the  Salesroom,  with  the 
privileges  of  the  Board  for  the  day,  shall  be  fifty  cents. 

r2th.  Amendments  to  these  rules  and  regulations  may  be 
made  at  any  regular  meeting  of  the  Board,  by  a  majority  vote, 
provided  notice  of  the  proposed  amendment  has  been  duly  given 
at  a  previous  regular  meeting. 


LIST  OF  APPARATUS. 

In  response  to  numerous  inquiries  by  parties  contemplating  the 
manufacture  of  cheese  in  factories  and  dairies,  I  give  below  a 
list  of  the  apparatus  with  prices,  as  now  commonly  used  in  a 
factory  of  400,  and  a  dairy  of  30  cows,  from  which  an  approximate 
estimate  of  cost  for  a  larger  or  smaller  establishment  can  be  made. 
The  total  cost  is,  of  course,  liable  to  vary  by  reason  of  change  in 
prices  and  the  introdution  of  new  and  improved  apparatus,  but  it 
is  believed  that  the  tables  will  nevertheless  be  of  value  as  an 
approximation  to  cost  of  outfit.  The  prices  are  for  apparatus  as 
now  furnished  by  Gardner  B.  Weeks,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  : 

COMPLETE  OUTFIT  FOR  A  CHEESE  FACTORY  OF 
400  COWS. 

1  3-Horse  Power  Boiler,  with  fittings  complete $190  00 

2  600  Gallon  Vats,  with  inside  steam  pipes,  at  $85.00 170  00 

Steam  pipe  connections  and  fittings,  $19  to 20  00 

16  Cheese  Hoops,  best  Galvanized  Iron,  15  inch,  with  followers,  at  $4.50.  72  00 

16      "        Press  Screws,  at  $4.00 6400 

(Or  Gang  Press,  costing  per  Hoop,  $14.83.) 

Timbers  for  Press  frames  can  be  made  by  any  good  mechanic,  say 25  00 

Curd  Drainers 15  00 

I  6o-Gallon  We"igh  Can, — large  faucet 13  50 

I  Tin  Conductor 2  50 

I  600-lb.  Fairbank's  Scales,  with  wheels,  for  weighing  milk 28  00 

*i  140-lb.         "                 "                                       "                 cheese,  &c 16  50 

I  Curd  Knife, — 13  Blades, — 20  in.  long 7  00 

•i      "         "           Horizontal  Blades,  6x20  in.  long 700 

I  Hoisting  Crane, — complete 14  00 

I  Syphon  and  large  Strainer 350 

•ti  Bandager—(;^°' Patented) 

I  Water  Pail,  extra  heavy i  00 

I  Curd       "      125 

I      ''      Scoop I  00 

I  Dipper— gallon,  extra  heavy 100 


Appendix,  353 


I  Set  Milk-Testing  Instruments — comprising  3  Graduated  Jars,  1  Lac-  I 

tometer,  12  Cream  Tubes f        ^  ^ 

1  Case  Stencil  Plate  and  Brush 60 

I  Factory  "  "     about i  50 

1  Set  "  "     for  dating  cheeses 3  00 

2  Stone  Rennet  Jars — 15  Gallons,  $4.50 9  00 

2  Thermometers,  at  .50 i  00 

I  Factory  Account  Book — (as  to  size,) — say i  20 

I        "        Slate — double 75 

I  Rubber  Mop 50 

*  I  Floor  Funnel i  00 

*i  Curd  Mill,  double  cylinder 23  00 

I  Set  Castors  for  Curd  Sink 2  00 

*i  Barwick  Wrench   3  50 

*i  Cheese  Tryer — nickel-plated i  00 

*  I  Curd  Agitator i  5° 

+*  I  Milk      ''       Austin's  (patent) 

*i  Tinned  Cheese  Knife i  00 

In  case  a  Factory  fitted  up  as  above  for  making  cheese  from  400  cows  is  con- 
verted into  a  Creamery  where  butter  and  cheese  are  made  from  the  same  milk, 
the  following  articles  would  be  required  : 

I  3-Horse  Power  Engine $i75  00 

I  No,  9  Blanchard  Churn 45  00 

I  Butter  Worker 25  co 

Cooler  Pails, — as  per  time  that  milk  is  to  set.     It  may  be  set  in  the 

Cheese  Vats  if  only  for  12  or  24  hours — at 9° 

I  Butter  Mold i  00 

Ladles,  Skimmer,  Bowls,  &c 3  <^ 

Articles  marked  with  a  *  may  be  dispensed  with,  though  very  much  used. 
Articles  marked  with  a  t  are  patented,  and  the  right  to  use  them  must  be 
obtained  of  the  owners  of  the  patent. 

FIXTURES  FOR  A  CHEESE  DAIRY  OF  30  COWS. 

1  i2o-Gallon  Self-heating  Vat,  with  hot  water  tank $82  00 

2  Cheese  Hoops,  15  Inch,  with  followers,  $4.50 9  00 

2        "        Press  Screws 800 

I       "       Press,  about 10  00 

I  Cuid  Knife,  7x20  inches   4  25 

I      "      Pail 125 

I*    "      Scoop I  00 

I  Dipper 75 

1  Set  Stencil  Plates 3  00 

2  Thermometers  at .  50 i  00 

I  Rubber  Mop 50 


FORM    FOR  ORGANIZING  A  DAIRY    MANU- 
FACTURING COMPANY  OR  ASSOCIATON. 

We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  organize  ourselves  into  an  asso- 
ciation for  the  manufacture  of  (Cheese,  or  Butter,  or  both,  as  the 
case  ma)'  be,)  under  the  name  and  style  of,  (insert  name,  with  P. 
O.  address).  It  is  agreed  and  understood  that  the  stock  of  this 
association   shall  be  divided  into  (number  of  shares,   at  the  par 

valuation   of    % per   share  ;)  and   it  is  hereby   understood 

and  agreed  that   each  shareholder  shall  contribute  his  pro  rata 
share  of  expenses,  and  receive  his  pro  rata  share  of  all  net  profits. 


354 


A  merica  n  Da  try  ing. 


All  matters  in  the  construction  of  the  necessary  buildings,  fur- 
nishing them,  the  hiring  of  help  and  the  general  management, 
shall  be  decided  by  vote  of  all  shareholders  present  at  a  regular 
meeting,  or  at  a  special  meeting  of  which  all  stockholders  have 
been  notified,  the  majority  of  stockholders  represented  determin- 
ing the  result.  A  special  meeting  shall  not  be  held  without  at 
least  three  days'  notice  being  given  by  the  president  to  each 
member,  either  verbally  or  by  written  notice  left  at  his  place  of 
business.  The  officers  of  this  association  shall  be  a  President, 
two  Vice-Presidents,  a  Secretar>%  a  Treasurer,  and  an  Executive 
Committee  of  three.  The  duties  of  the  several  officers  shall  be 
those  usual  to  such  organizations.  We  also  hereby  agree  to 
abide  by  and  observe  all  By-Laws,  Rules  and  Regulations 
which  may  hereafter  be  adopted  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  this  asso- 
tiation,  at  any  regular  meeting — that  is,  two-thirds  of  the  shares  of 
stock  represented  at  such  meeting  cast  in  the  affirmative.  For 
the  faithful  performance  of  all  which  we  hereby  subscribe  our 
names,  this  the day  of ,  i8 — . 


{a)  The  parts  separated  in  making  cheese  are  shown  by  the 
following  analyis  made  in  Cornell  University  under  the  direction 
of  Prof  G.  C.  Caldwell : 


Water  . 
Fat..  . 
Ash  . . . 
Protien, 


I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

34.18 

33-92 
3.02 

28.88 

29.82 
35.80 

35-24 

35.68 

2.84 

26.24 

29.19 
37.24 

30.49 

39-25 

3.00 

27.26 

28.11 

41.03 

2.68 

28.1S 

40.56 

20.53 

705 

34-86 


No.  I  was  a  factory  cheese  three  days  old,  made  at  North 
Bridgewater,  N.  Y.,  July,  1875.  No  2,  same  five  months  old. 
No.  3  was  a  factory  cheese  one  week  old,  made  by  Hon.  Wm.  A. 
Johnson,  at  Collins  Centre,  N.  Y.,  August,  1875.  No.  4,  same 
four  months  old.  No  5  was  nine  months  old,  made  of  half  Jersey 
milk,  at  Winthrop  Factory,  Maine,  Aug.  24th,  1874.  No.  6  was 
well  cured  and  made  of  all  Jersey  milk  at  same  factory,  Sept. 
i6th,  1875.  No.  7,  also  margarine  cheese,  six  months  old,  made 
at  McLean,  N.  Y. 


zw""<3-:B:rr  the  best." 

THE  BLANGHARD  CHURN 

As  now  offered  to  the  trade  and  to  the  practical  Dairyman,  is  the 
result  of  over  twenty-five  years'  experience  and  experiment.  Ii 
has  been  proved,  and  zwproved,  and  ^/proved,  during  the  past 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  is  now  unquestionably 

The  Leading  Churn  of  the  Country  ! 

ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND 

Are  now  in  successful  operation.  They  are  for  sale  in  every  State 
and  Territory  of  the  Union,  and  many  foreign  countries.  They 
always  sell  the  best  where  they  have  been  used  the  longest.  Thev 
combine  more  desirable  qualities  than  any  other  Churn  now  made. 
No  other  Churns  are  made  of  as  good  materials,  or  as  faithfully. 
WE  CHALLENGE  COMPARISON.  They  cannot  get  out  of 
order,  because  they  are  so  simple.  Because  they  are  so  simple, 
and  thoroughly  made,  they  are  very  durable.  They  have  no  cog- 
wheels or  gearing  to  wear  out  or  break.  They  work  the  butter 
free  from  butter-milk  in  the  churn,  without  any  change  of  dasher, 
quicker  and  better  than  it  can  be  done  by  hand.  They  work  in 
the  salt  in  the  same  way.  They  are  PERFECT  AUTOMATIC 
BUTTER  MAKERS.     Seven  Sizes  Made. 

No,  3 — For  about  2  gallons  of  cream $6  00 

No.  4—      "            4        "                "      700 

No.  5—      *'            8         "                "      8  00 

No.  5 —      *'           1-2         "                "      10  00 

No.  7 —      "           18         "                "      1200 

No.  8 — For  from  50  to  75  gallons  *of  cream 40  00 

No.  9 —      "           75  to  150      "             "         45  00 

Power  Pulley  for  any  size  Churn 2  50 

If  they  do  not  give  satisfaction,  or  prove  to  be  as  represented, 
they  may  be  returned  to  the  agent  of  whom  they  are  purchased, 
at  our  expense. 

The  Factory  sizes  (Nos.  8  and  9)  are  found  to  be  exactly  what 
is  needed  in  large  Dairies  or  Factories,  where  power  is  used. 
They  have  the  unqualified  commendation  of  every  one  who  has 
used  them.  Send  to  any  dealer  in  really  first-class  dairy  imple- 
ments for  our  goods.     They  all  keep  them. 

We  furnish  free,  on  application,  our  "  New  Butter  Manual,"  an. 
Descriptive  Circulars.     Send  for  them.     "  Get  the  Best." 

SOLE  MANUFACTURERS, 

PORTER  ^BLANCHARD^S  SONS, 

Oonoord,    IST.  H. 
355 


THE 

DAIRY   ROOM 

OF  THE  WORLD, 

AND 

THE  ONLY  PERFECT  SYSTEM  OF  COOL- 
ING AND   VENTILATING  AUTOMATIC' 
ALLY,    AND    MAINTAINING    THE 
SAME  TEMPERA  TURE  SUMMER 
AND     WINTER,      WITHOUT 
THE  USE   OF  ICE. 


PATENTED  JANUARY,   1876,  BY 

J.  WILKINSON,  Baltimore,  Md, 


J^^Send  25  Cents  and  Stamp  for  full  description. 
Address,  until  November  next,  J.  WILKINSON, 
Chief  Superintendent  of  the  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment International  Exhibition,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

SELE-LOADn&  HAT  WA&OI. 


''PHIS  MACHINE  is  warranted  to  load  one  ton  of  hay  in  two 
1-  minutes,  and  drops  it  out  upon  the  barn  floor,  or  beside  the 
stack,  without  stopping  the  team,  only  to  hook  a  chain.  Price 
$200.     Price  of  wagon  M'ithout  any  machine  $100. 

Address,  H.  P.  BURDICK,  Alfred,  Allegany  Co.,  N.Y. 


WHITMAN  &  BURRELL.  Little  Falls.  NY. 

Send  for  complete  Illustrated  Circular  of  all  Apparatus  and 
Furnishings  for 

CHBESB  ANn    BUTTER    FACTORIES! 

New  Method  of  Manufacture  Given. 
General  Agents  for  the  Celebrated  Blanchard  Churn,  French 
Burr-Stone  Grist  Mills,  &c. 
We  manufacture  largely  CHEESE-BOX   HOOPS,  Rims  and 
Heading,  and  ship  in  bundles  ready  to  make  up  into  CHEESE- 
BOXES,  TOBACCO  DRUMS,  &c. 

Economizer  Improved  Boiler  &  Engine. 

The  Only  Boiler  for  Dairymen  and  Farmers. 

Highest  award  of  the  Committee  on  Boilers  for  Cheese  Factory 
purposes,  at  the  American  Dairymen's  Convention,  a  very  large 
assemblage,  at  Rome,  to  the  Economizer,  over  all  others  on  ex- 
hibition. The  best  Portable  Steam  Engine  in  market.  Boiler  all 
wrought  iron.  Every  part  made  upon  honor.  All  bearing  parts 
made  to  take  up  wear.  Engine  warranted  of  best  iron  and  steel. 
Nothing  cheap  but  price.  Fire  passes  underneath  boiler  to  the 
back,  thence  through  the  flues  and  up  the  stack. 

Prices.  — Three-horse  Power,  $350;  Four-horse  Power,  $400; 
Five-horse  Power,  $450;  Eight-horse  Power,  $575. 

COMPLETE  WITH  SPARK  ARRESTER. 

[Refer  to  page  107  in  Report  on  Factory  Apparatus,  in  Annual 
Report  of  American  Dairymen's  Association,  for  1876.] 

HIGHEST  PREMIUMS  at  twenty-two  important  Fairs  and 
Expositions,  including  American  Institute  test  of  three  months — 
'73  and  '74 — for  portable  Boilers  and  Engines. 

It  is  the  most  economical  yet  powerful  Agricultural  Engine 
in  the  market.  It  has  No  Fire  Tile  to  Shake  Loose  or  get 
broken.  The  Fire  is  right  in  the  Center  oe  the  Water  it- 
self— ALL  the  Heat  is  Utilized.  It  can  not  scale  up,  and  will 
last  a  life-time.  There  can  be  no  possibility  of  sparks,  for  the  fire 
goes  to  the  rear  end,  then  back  to  the  front  through  the  return 
flues,  so  that  all  sparks  are  entirely  consumed.  |C^A  careful 
examination  will  convince  any  party  of  its  great  superiority. 

Ji^^EVERY  ARTICLE  OF  OUR  MANUFACTURE  FULLY  GUARANTEED. 


WELLS,  RICHARDSON  &  CO.'S 

PERFECTED    BUTTER    COLOR. 

WE  TAKE  PLEASURE  in  offering  to  the  Dairymen  of 
America  this  preparation,  as  the  perfect  result  of  our  long 
continued  experiments  in  the  preparation  of  an  Artificial  color 
for  their  use. 

In  our  Perfected  Butter  Color,  we  have  succeeded  in  combining 
the  bright  yellow  coloring  principle  of  the  Dandelion  blossom 
with  the  previously  well  known  "Golden  Extract,"  thereby  se- 
curing a  bright  golden  tint,  so  exactly  like  the  highest  grade  of 
June  butter,  that  liO  expert  can  detect  it,  even  by  actual  compari- 
son of  the  artificial  with  the  natural  color. 

We  claim  for  it  every  point  wanted  in  a  PERFECT  Butter 
color,  viz  : 

1st  PERFECT  COLOR.  The  butternever  turns  to  a  reddish 
tinge,  but  always  keeps  its  bright  golden  color. 

2d.  PERFECT  FREEDOM  FROM  ANY  TASTE  OR 
SMELL,  that  can  be  imparted  to  the  butter. 

3d.  PERFECT  KEEPING  QUALITIES.  It  does  not  mold, 
sour,  or  spoil  in  any  manner.  Heat  or  cold  have  no  effect  upon 
it.  It  has  a  decided  tendency  to  preserve  butter,  whereas  butter 
colored  with  carrots,  annatto,  etc.,  will  often  spoil  or  turn  to  a 
dull  reddish  tint. 

4th.  PERFECT  ECONOMY  IN  USE.  It  requires  no  labor, 
as  it  is  a  fluid  that  is  put  with  the  cream  into  the  chnrn.  It  is 
cheaper  than  any  other  coloring,  being  put  up  in  three  sizes, 
selling  at  25  cents,  50  cents  and  $1.00,  which  color  respectively 
300,  750  and  2.000  pounds  of  butter.  We  warrant  it  to  add  at 
least  five  cents  per  pound  to  the  value  of  white  butter,  a  return  of 
one  dollar  for  every  cent  it  costs. 

IMPORTANT  PROPOSITION. 

In  order  to  give  every  one  an  opportunity  to  give  this  color  a 
trial,  we  will  send  samples  sufficient  to  color  50  pounds,  post 
paid,  to  any  address,  on  receipt  of  ten  cents.  A.ddress, 

WELLS,  RICHARDSON  &  CO.,  Burlington,  Vt. 


WELLS,  RICHARDSON  &  CO.'S 
GOLDEN  EXTRACT  of  ANNATTO. 

A  liquid  extract  of  Annatto,  pure,  brilliant,  permanent,  econo- 
mical. The  best  color  for  cheese,  far  surpassing  in  Strength, 
Purity,  Quality  and  durability  of  Color  and  Cheapness,  any  pro- 
duct, liquid  or  otherwise,  ever  offered  to  Dairymen. 

Its  strength  is  extraordinary — one  gallon  giving  a  good  color 
to  20,000  lbs.  of  cheese,  or  more.  The  color  is  uniform,  and  per- 
manent, and  just  that  bright  shade  best  adapted  to  the  English 
market  It  is  cheaper  for  cheese  makers  than  any  other  coloring. 
Send  for  circulars  giving  full  particulars. 


THE  AMERICAN  DAIRY  SALT  COMPANY, 

SOLE  MANUFACTURERS   OF  THE 

°S''  DAIRY  &  TABLE  SALT 

Respectfully  call  the  attention  of  Dairymen  and   others  to  the 

quality  of  the  Salt  now  being  manufactured  by  them.  Having  for  many  years 
past  been  engaged  in  perfecting  the  various  processes  for  the  manufacture  of  this 
Salt,  and  by  adopting  the  best  modes  and  machinery  for  the  purpose,  they  feel 
warranted  in  saying  to  the  consumer  that  the  article  now  produced  is  superior  to 
any  other,  either  of  foreign  or  domestic  production.  The  following  is  a  correct 
analysis  of  our  Salt,  and  also  of  the  celebrated  Ashton's  English  Salt,  made  by 
Chas.  A.  Goessmann,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Massachusetts  Agri- 
cultural College  at  Amherst,  Mass.: 

Ashton  Salt.      Onondaga  Factory  Filled. 

Chloride  of  Sodium 97-65  98.28 

Sulphate  of  Lime 1.43  0.91 

Sulphate  of  Magnesia 0.05  .06 

Chloride  of  Magnesia 0.06  .00 

Sulphate  of  Soda .00  .03 

Insoluble  matter .05  .12 

Water 76  .60 

100.00  100.00 

Circulars  in  regard  to  various  tests  made  with  this  Salt  in  comparison  with  the 
best  foreign  article,  also  certificates  from  a  large  number  of  the  best  dairies  in  this 
State  as  to  its  quality,  may  be  had  on  application  to  J.  W.  BARKER,  Secretary, 
Syracuse,  N.Y.,  to  whom  orders  for  Salt  may  also  be  addressed.  It  is  also  for  sale 
by  Agents  of  the  Company  in  principal  Western  Lake  Ports  ;  by  ROBT.  GEER, 
No.  109  Pier,  Albany,  N.Y.,  and  by  Salt  Dealers  generally  throughout  the  State  of 
New  York.  Inquire  for  ONONDAGA  FACTORY  FILLED  DAIRY  SALT. 
J.  W.  BARKER,  Pres't  and  Soc'v, 
THOS.  MOLLOY,  Treas.  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 


4^^ 


^^ 


(See  Prof.  Arnold's  Opinion,  page  257.) 


HARDIN'S 


er 


CIRCULARS  FREE. 
Address, 


if/   L  S.  HARDIN, 


Louisville,  Ky. 


Adams'  Patent  Butter  Case, 

JS^OHBIS  &  BUG.,  Bro2)rietors, 


31  Prospect  St, 


CLEVELAND,  O. 


For  price,  terms,  or  other  information  in  regard   to  this  Butter 

Package,  address  as  follows  : 
For  New  York  and  Eastern  States — 

LEWIS  T.  HAWLEY,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Hon.  HARRIS  LEWIS,  Frankfort,  N.Y. 
For  Illinois  and  Iowa — 

C.  C.  BUELL,  Rock  Falls,  III. 
And  for  all  other  States  and  Territories,  the  Proprietors. 

ORDERS   FOR 

CHOICE  TABLE  BUTTER, 

Packed  in  these  Cases,  promptly  filled  and  shipped  to  any 
part  of  the  world  with  safety. 

NORRIS  &  BRO.,  Proprietors. 

CHARLES  MILLAR  &  SON, 

MANUFACTURERS    OF 

Cheese  &  Butter-Making  Apparatus, 

Combining  all  the  Latest  Improvements.     Dealers  in 

Cheese  Factory  &  Dairy  Furnishing  Goods, 

Send  for  Illustrated  Circular  and  Price  List. 

127  &  129  GENESEE  STREET,  UTICA,  N.  Y. 

|It:^"Our  New  Portable  Boiler  and  Engine,  "THE  IRON 
SLAVE,"  is  the  best  in  America. 

MIDDA  UGWS  MILK  TESTER. 

Thisisan  instrument 
for  testing  the  value  and 
quality  of  milk  It  will  tell 
if  milk  has  been  skimmed, 
watered,  or  taken  from  a 
cow  that  has  garget  or  any 
other  disease  that  will  affect 
the  quality  of  the  milk.  It 
is  simple  in  construction 
and  operation,  and  is  rapid- 
ly going  into  use  in  the  best 
Butter  and  Cheese  Factor- 
ies in  the  country. 
Instruments  and  Rights  to  use  sold  by 

ALVIN  MIDDAUGH,  Friendship,  N.  Y. 


